The Importance of Sea Ice
Learning Sequence
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Introduction
During this course, we’re going to be focusing on the importance of sea ice. We welcome you to join us on top of the icebreaker, Greg Mortimer, as we cruise towards the North Pole through an ocean filled with ice.
This course should allow the students to understand the importance of this amazing formation and also have a strong connection with it.
As this concept of preserving ice around the world is very abstract to many of our children, we have delivered this course directly from a boat within the Arctic Circle, so that the point of connection is one step closer to your students, thus creating an emotional bond between the importance of sea ice and your children.
Your students will understand how sea ice impacts the communities of people all over the world. We want to empower them to be able to make a difference in the world and, during this course, they will organise an event within your school which will allow them to make a difference in the preservation of this wonderful natural phenomenon.
During this course, we are going to take a trip with an ice scientist all the way to the Arctic Circle to investigate the importance of sea ice
We’re going to go on a journey on an icebreaker called the Greg Mortimer and together we will understand the power that ice has in preserving life for all organisms on Earth.
Once you understand the importance of this amazing formation, we will then start to understand how important ice is to every single human being on this planet.
It doesn’t matter which corner of the planet you live on, ice plays an important role in making sure that life is sustainable for every human being, plant and insect on Earth.
To finish off this short course, we’re going to ask you to organise an event in your community which will enable everybody who lives around you to help in preserving sea ice.
What was once impossible is now possible, and it’s all because of you!
Keywords
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Introduce the spelling word list and choose from this list of tasks that can be repeated and expanded upon if necessary.
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Copy the words into a spelling list/vocabulary book for later reference.
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Put each of the new words into a sentence and underline the new vocabulary in red pencil
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Place the words in alphabetical order in a list.
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Use a dictionary to define each of the words and place them into a vocabulary book.
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Try to represent each of the words using a picture or a symbol and play the guessing game. (which image is matched to which word)
Write a paragraph containing all of the new vocabulary.
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Make a vocabulary wall containing all of the new words.
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Use a thesaurus to find synonyms for the words and create a synonym list.
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These words will help you during this short course. You may already know some of these words however practice makes perfect!
First, read the words and then try to define them as simply as possible.
An example has been completed for you. You can write these into your books, and draw a picture to match or simply complete the task card.
Read and Discuss: Warm-Up Activity
During this comprehension task, children will be required to read the task card and watch the video with myself and Ulyana.
During this task, we want to make sure that the children understand the importance of this ice formation
This will set the scene for them to design an impactful event within the school, which will allow them to feel that they are making a difference in the way that the world works and thus protecting sea ice for the foreseeable future.
It’s all about understanding, comprehending and empowerment.
Listen to the video with Ulyana and read the following document and try to answer the following questions.
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Where is most of the sea ice on Earth found?
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In which layer of the Earth can we find sea ice?
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When floating sea ice becomes deformed, what three formations are created?
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Why are cracks in sea ice very important for people and animals?
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What percentage of the entire planet is covered in sea ice?
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What word do we use to describe the amount of salt found in water?
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What five ways does sea ice affect the whole planet?
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How do scientists measure the amount of sea ice on Earth?
The Importance of Sea Ice - Make Your Choice
During this activity, we want the children to understand the difference between sea ice being present on Earth and the lack of ice on Earth, and the implications that this has on all aspects of the planet.
Children will require access to research materials such as technology or books to maximise the impact of this session.
Children are requested to work in pairs or groups and look at the task card, reading through each and every one of the results on the left and right sides of this card.
The idea behind this part of the lesson is for children to be able to establish how the disappearing sea ice can actually affect them personally.
For example, if the Earth is getting hotter, how will this affect them in their own community? If the Earth is starting to heat up, which is causing sea levels to rise, how will this affect their quality of life? And if habitats of animals are lost, such as the polar bear, what will this mean for the future of mankind?
This exercise is about building a bridge between what’s happening on one side of the world and how that affects each of our students independently.
Whilst icebergs, glaciers and ice caps may be very, very far away from where you live. This week is all about you understanding that even though they are very distant, they still have an impact on your life.
Once we understand how important ice is, we can then begin to understand why we should all start to protect it.
Use the task card to understand the importance of this icy phenomenon, and then follow the procedure to understand that ice has an impact on the way that you, your family, and your entire community live. We need to work hard to make sure that we protect it while it is still there!
Take a look at the flow charts and answer the following questions with your partner.
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Is it better if the Earth stays as it is and what would happen if the Earth warmed up?
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What kinds of animals live on or around the sea ice and are they important in the global food chain? What would happen if they became extinct?
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Are Ocean currents important? What happens if they change? Would it change the weather where I live?
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How important is it that the weather stays predictable? What happens when surprise things like heavy rain or extremely hot days happen by surprise?
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If the ice melts then the sea levels rise. What would happen to the Earth if the sea levels became higher? Would it affect me or the people I know?
I think we can all agree that protecting the sea ice should be a priority for us all!
Discussion - Reuse, Recycle, Reduce
This activity will allow students to have an active discussion about the way that they live and whether they can reuse, recycle or reduce depending on the item listed.
Once students have decided if it’s reuse, recycle or reduce, they simply need to colour in the box which indicates their choice.
Students may also wish to share their conversations with partners or with the rest of the class about which of these they are going to change in their own lives.
Each item can have multiple answers!
Now that you understand that the protection of sea ice is important to us all, let’s take a look at some of the things we can do to help.
The small things that we do have a huge impact if everybody on Earth. We can change the lives of others by doing small things today.
Take a look at the following task card and with your partner, decide if they can be recycled, reused, or reduced. Some of these can be all three!
Once your discussion is over, make a pact to try and follow some of these in your home or school to help protect the sea ice from melting!
Let’s Recycle - Community Action!
Now that our students understand the importance of recycling and reusing the possessions that we have, we want to give them some agency and independence to be able to organise their very own school community book drive.
The children will be asked to design a poster and set a closing date where parents can bring in used children’s books which can be donated to either a library in the subcontinent or another organisation of the children’s choice.
Children need to be given the agency and the independence to make the choice for themselves. This is where they have a chance to persuade the community to take action and save the planet, alongside making a real and tangible difference in the lives of other people in the world.
This process may take several weeks, but the learning which will take place from an event such as this will be lifelong.
Visit the Global Book Drive Challenge here:
https://upschool.co//challenges/global-book-drive/
NB – If your school does decide to send your books to schools in India using the Upschool network, please contact us at hello@upschool.co for the address details where the books will be sent.
Now that you understand the importance of recycling and reusing things instead of throwing them away, we want you to persuade your community to recycle any children’s books they may have in their house and bring them to school for you to collect.
Once you have collected the books, we want you to start a school fundraiser to send them to India. Once they arrive, the team at upschool will make sure that they reach communities that REALLY need them and don’t worry, we will share the pictures with you so you can see the smiles on the children’s faces when they receive their new books.
You’ll need to create a poster to advertise your book drive. Take a look at the following example of how your poster might look! Once you have designed it, make sure it is sent to the families in your school!
We are currently building libraries for communities in India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh and this is where you can save the world and help others at the same time!
Once your collection is ready, you will need to visit the post office to find out how much it will cost to send the books all that way!
You can take a look at some of the communities you will be helping by clicking the link below!
If you want to donate your books to another organisation instead of posting them to India that is totally fine too! The choice is yours.
NB – If your school does decide to send your books to schools in India using the Upschool network, please contact us at hello@upschool.co for the address details where the books will be sent.
Extension Activity #1 - Leadership Program
We request that older students over the age of eight buddy up, or partner up, with a younger child in their school, and pass on the knowledge they have gained from this lesson and take it to the younger cohorts within your school and develop their own leadership skills
Please take a look at the very simple and child-friendly lesson plan. This should be read and understood by the students before they prepare their lesson and their learning for a younger child.
The reasoning behind this methodology is to develop leadership, confidence, responsibility and communication skills between the older and younger students within your school. This will bring the cohort closer together and build a sense of community throughout your entire educational establishment.
Charles S. Lauer said ‘Leaders don’t force people to follow—they invite them on a journey.’ It is now time for you to invite a younger child to take a journey with you. A journey of discovery!
We ask you, as an older student, to buddy up with a younger student in your school
We want you to pass on the knowledge you have gained in this course to a younger student whilst developing leadership mentorship and with the responsibility of working with the youngest student in the school.
You may think that this is a task which has no meaning. However, to the younger child in the school, it will have a huge influence on the way that they approach education and the way they feel within school.
You will be a continuous safety net, almost like a big brother or sister to a younger student in the school whilst also developing leadership communication and the confidence to be able to lead into the future.
Use this template to help you plan your lesson and gather your resources before you head down to the younger children’s classroom to reteach what you have just learned.
Extension Activity #2 - Seedlings in an Egg Carton (The Perfect Gift)
Now that we understand how important it is to recycle, and reuse, we are going to do just that. But this time we are also going to grow some new vegetation which provides food and a new home for some tiny creatures.
You’re going to use an old egg carton and grow some seedlings inside. Once they start to grow you can then cut each individual egg cup out and gift them to a friend whilst explaining how important it is to reuse, recycle and reduce.
Follow the instructions on the task card opposite and you’ll be doing something amazing for the world!
