In this activity, students will discuss the potential correlation between the thickness of sea ice and the thickness of the snow cover. They will use graphing calculators to graph data acquired in the field about the thickness of sea ice and snow and then interpret the graphs to determine the relationship between snow thickness and sea ice thickness. Full description.

This activity helps students to understand the many roles that polar sea ice plays in the systems that maintain our planet, by first helping them to understand the process of the formation of ice in oceanic regimes. Students will use an inquiry based lab experience relating salt content to the ability of water to freeze in order to begin this study. Specifically, they will design an experiment to ... Full description.

In this activity students will investigate what happens to salt water when it freezes. Observations of densities and salt concentration (by measuring conductivity) will be made. These results will be compared with the densities and conductivity conditions found in sea ice cores (columns of frozen sea water taken from the ocean around Antarctica). Full description.

This radio broadcast contains a discussion with the author of a book about history, heat, and the quest for absolute zero. Absolute zero, (-273.15 degrees Celsius), the temperature at which all molecules stop moving entirely, is ultimately cold. Research into what temperature really means and ways to alter the temperature of objects has resulted in more efficient engines, air conditioning, new materials, ... Full description.

This site presents basic facts about snowflakes and snow crystals. It explains why snowflakes look like they do. Students can also learn what snow crystals are, how they form, and why they grow into such diverse shapes. The site explains the conditions under which the various types of snowflakes are formed and includes a morphology diagram which gives the crystal shape under different conditions. ... Full description.

This site provides students with a look at the different types of falling snow. Although no two snowflakes are exactly alike, their forms usually fall into several broad categories. The categories addressed include the basic snowflake forms known as stellar dendrites, sectored plates, hollow columns, needles, spatial dendrites, capped columns, rimed crystals and irregular crystals. A special section ... Full description.

At this site students will discover that more than any other ice sheet, the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has the greatest potential to raise sea levels all over the world. They will also learn how scientists are studying it, both in the field and back in the laboratory. This is an in-depth profile of a glaciologist who studies the ice streams of this ice sheet, which flow to the Southern Ocean. In the ... Full description.

This atlas contains Landsat images, aerial photographs, selected maps, and other data, which provide a baseline look (from the mid-1970's) at glaciation in Canada, the conterminous United States, and Mexico. The Landsat false-color imagery includes ice fields, outlet glaciers, valley glaciers, and cirque glaciers, as well as ice caps. Ice features are grouped by location and a full description is ... Full description.

This project establishes an educational and scientific partnership between elementary and middle school students, a regional university, and a national scientific laboratory, all focusing on the science and mathematics of snowflake formation. Students will conduct fieldwork investigations using portable digital microscopes, laptop computers, and cameras to record snowflake patterns. They will study ... Full description.

This glossary provides definitions of terms necessary to understand the modern glacier environment. Terms are listed in alphabetical order and are accompanied by photographs. A separate section provides definitions of each type, accompanied by a photograph of an example. Full description.