Ice on land

Requirements

You will need 1) an aquarium or similar, 2) some big pieces of stone - for instance granite cobblestones 3) a lot of ice cubes and 4) a marker.

Procedure

Place the stones in the aquarium

1. Pour water in the aquarium, but no more than leaving the top of the stones uncovered.
   The uncovered parts of the stones represent the land areas in the model.
   
   
2. When the water has settled, mark the waterline with the marker on the outside of the aquarium.
   
   
3. Now, place ice cubes - preferably many - on the stones - not in the water.
   
   
   
   
4. As the ice cubes gradually melt, the water level in the aquarium will rise.
   
      
   
5. This is a quite simple demonstration of what is happening when the ice cap in the Arctic melts.
   
    
   
   
6. With NASA's Climate Time Machine you can see how the polar Ice cap has changed over time.
   
   Click here to open NASA's Climate Time Machine (opens a new window)
   
   
   
   
   Present the Climate Time Machine to your pupils on the data projector or let them experience the Climate Time Machine themselves.