Topic(s): Ocean and Climate, Climate Feedbacks, Melting Ice and Permafrost
Grade Level: Middle (6-8), High School (9-12)
In this activity, students learn about sea ice extent in both polar regions (Arctic and Antarctic). They start out by forming a hypothesis on the variability of sea ice, testing the hypothesis by graphing real data from a recent 3-year period to learn about seasonal variations and over a 25-year period to learn about longer-term trends, and finish with a discussion of their results and predictions.