Investigating sea level rise
In this activity, students build simple models to demonstrate the differing impacts of melting land ice and sea ice on sea level rise.
Modelling the link between ice melt and sea level rise
Melting land ice and melting sea ice have differing effects on sea level rise.
Although this activity uses climate change and sea level rise as its primary context, it can also be used to explore Physical World concepts:
Objects in liquid displace the liquid.
The amount of liquid an object displaces is directly related to its volume.
As a result, when ice melts in a container of water, the volume of water in the container does not change.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
identify that ice floating in water does not change the volume of water when it melts
discuss how the activity models the link between melting land ice and sea level rise
make predictions about the potential impacts of melting land ice and sea ice.
Download the Word file (see link below) for:
background information for teachers
equipment list
student instructions
extension ideas/prompting questions for teachers.
Nature of science
In science, models are often representations of an object or process that enable predictions to be developed and tested. In this activity, students use models to demonstrate the differing impacts that melting land ice and sea ice may have on sea level rise. This fits into the 'investigating in science' aspect of the New Zealand Curriculum.
Related content
Use these articles below to explore how rising global temperature is causing both land ice and sea ice to melt.
Rising seas – a Connected article
Antarctica tipping points looks at the irreversible changes we could be facing if we fail to keep global warming below 2℃.
A land of ice and ambition looks at different types of ice in Antarctica. The podcast in the resource touches on the SWAIS2C project research that is contributing knowledge on Antarctic ice mass balance (a negative mass balance is an indication of sea-level rise).
The heartbeat of Antarctica explores the impacts of sea ice on global climate and ocean currents. Listen to scientists talking about their work to better understand the physics of the sea ice in the related podcast.
The Changing times in Antarctica article and podcast looks at the changes happening in Antarctica. Scientists working to track the changes and understand the potential impacts talk about how they feel about their work and climate change.
Related activities
The implications of melting are also visually demonstrated in the activities Melting glacial ice and Temperature, salinity and water density.
Useful links
The NZ SeaRise: Te Tai Pari O Aotearoa programme has released location specific sea level rise projections out to the year 2300 for every 2 km of the coast of Aotearoa New Zealand. This very informative site includes maps (you can find the possible impact on your local area) and there are resources such as posters and videos.
See NIWA’s Sea levels and sea-level rise – it has lots of information including: how sea levels are measured, what is contributing to rising sea levels, future rise projections and why we should worry.
