Glaciers

Introduction to Glaciers

-Next Generation Science Standard* 2-ESS2-3

This lesson on Glaciers covered the Second Grade Next Generation Standard* about water, the water cycle, and the states water is found in on Earth.  We made a simulated valley glacier out of goo and placed it in our model, which had mountains, glacial moraine and a glacial lake.

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Materials List for Glaciers

–Glaciers and Water Lesson
For the glacier goo:
-16 oz white glue
-2 teaspoons of Borax
–blue food coloring
-large spoon
-large bowl
-1/2 cup measuring cup
-large cup

For the valley glacier model:
-large rocks
-large flat surface, such as a box or cookie sheet
-cardboard
-black, blue and white construction paper
-shallow dish with water
–scissors
–school glue
–glue gun

Step 1: Download the Glaciers and Water Lesson and complete the worksheet

Here is a sample page of our worksheet for this lesson

Step 2: Make the first batch of white glacier goo

This lesson was adapted from the website My Kids Adventures.  You are going to make 2 batches of Glacier Goo, the first will be white, and the second you will add blue food coloring to make blue.

We started by putting 8 oz of white glue into the bowl.  We added 4 oz of warm water to the glue.  (Put the warm water into the empty glue bottle to get some more of the glue out.)

Then, we mixed 1/2 cup of warm water with a teaspooon of Borax in the large cup.

We put the Borax solution into the glue solution and mixed until it became a putty-like consistency.

It is so cool!

We put that mixture aside in another bowl while we made the blue goo.

Step 3: Make the blue glacier goo

Using exactly the same directions as when we made the white goo, we made our blue goo.

The exception was that we added 10 drops of blue food coloring to the glue mixture before adding the Borax.

Here is the finished blue glacier goo.

Step 4: Mix both the white and the blue glacier goo together

Take both the white and the blue goo and mix it together. It is easiest to just knead it with your hands.

Here is a video showing our completed glacier goo:

Step 5: Set up your valley glacier model

Set up the glacier model using the cardboard.  Use one of the pieces of cardboard as the base and the other piece to cut out jagged mountains.

Cover the mountains with blue construction paper and make white snow caps.

If you are going to put the mountains on the cardboard base, you will probably need a hot glue gun to get the rigid cardboard to stick together.  Lay some black and brown paper in the glacier valley.

Put some large rocks in the glacier valley to represent the glacial moraine, which is the debris that the glacier scrapes up and then drops behind as it moves.

Here is a video showing the glacier moving into the sea and the iceberg breaking off:

Here is our completed glacier valley on the left and the icebergs that have broken off the glacier on the right.

Glaciers move verrrrryyyy slloooowwwwlly..

Don’t forget to save your glacier goo for playing with later!

Step 6: Complete the assessment from the Glaciers and Water Lesson

Here is a sample assessment page from our lesson:

Source:

NGSS Lead States. 2013. Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

*”Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) is a registered trademark of Achieve. Neither Achieve nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of this product, and do not endorse it.”