Paleoclimates and Pollen
http://www.ucar.edu/learn/1_2_2_10t.htm
http://www.ucar.edu/learn/1_2_2_10t.htm
S. Henderson, S. Holman, L. Mortensen (eds. modified), UCAR
Activity takes one to two 45-minute class periods. Materials that are needed are tweezers, pie pans, confetti/paper dots and soil.
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Topics
Grade Level
Climate Literacy
About Teaching Climate Literacy
4d 
4dScientific observations indicate that global climate has changed in the past, is changing now, and will change in the future. The magnitude and direction of this change is not the same at all locations on Earth.
Other materials addressing 4d
Excellence in Environmental Education Guidelines
2. Knowledge of Environmental Processes and Systems:2.1 The Earth as a Physical System:A) Processes that shape the Earth
Other materials addressing:
A) Processes that shape the Earth.
Other materials addressing:
A) Processes that shape the Earth.
Benchmarks for Science Literacy
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The earth's climates have changed in the past, are currently changing, and are expected to change in the future, primarily due to changes in the amount of light reaching places on the earth and the composition of the atmosphere. The burning of fossil fuels in the last century has increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which has contributed to Earth's warming.
Notes From Our Reviewers
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Teaching Tips | Science | Pedagogy |
Technical Details
Teaching Tips
- Questions like "Why does climate change over time?" need to be addressed after stimulating the students with this activity.
- Educators should show an image of a real soil core so students can differentiate between the model and reality.
- Educators should note that all soil layers do not have unique pollen, and that pollen is not often well preserved in sediments.
- Educators need to be explicit about what is modeled and what is real; e.g. potting soil is very different than a real soil sample from a lake from a certain time period.
- Educators should include a discussion on the difficulty of deciding on boundaries between sedimentation layers and touch on dating techniques of these layers. In the activity, dates are given but no explanation is provided.
- Keys to types of pollen and climate are found in tables and student answer sheets.
About the Science
- Great and quick way of teaching students how scientists reconstruct past climates using a good model for the real data that was obtained at two research sites.
- Activity does not offer enough background material or links to sources for more detailed information about palynology. Background readings that are suggested are grade-appropriate.
- There is no reference to the scientific paper or, at least, the actual pollen diagram for the Colorado core site.
- In order to teach students critical thinking skills, educators should be clear that some pollen might not be complete and only pieces can be found, which makes the recognition of a species difficult and might skew the distribution.
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