Annual Arctic Sea Ice Minimum 1979-2015 with Area Graph
http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4435
http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4435
GSFC/Science Visualization Studio, NASA
Learn more about Teaching Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness»
See how this Animation supports the Next Generation Science Standards»
Grade Level
Regional Focus
Topics
Climate Literacy
This Animation builds on the following concepts of Climate Literacy.
Click a topic below for supporting information, teaching ideas, and sample activities.
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Teaching Tips | Science | Pedagogy |
Technical Details
Teaching Tips
- Visualization can be used to introduce the value of long-term data sets.
- If educator prefers to have students take data and draw the graph themselves, see http://nsidc.org/data/seaice_index/archives/image_select.html.
- Educator can show students the visualization of the sea ice first, and then engage class to hypothesize whether it is increasing or decreasing. Graph can be shown on a separate overlay and students can hypothesize how the change is affecting the ecosystem.
- It may be helpful to narrow students in on a particular location on the visualization - to help them see the differences over time.
About the Content
- The continued significant reduction in the extent of the summer sea ice cover is a dramatic illustration of the pronounced impact increased global temperatures are having on the Arctic regions. There has also been a significant reduction in the relative amount of older, thicker ice. Satellite-based passive microwave images of the sea ice cover have provided a reliable tool for continuously monitoring changes in the extent of the Arctic ice cover since 1979 (microwave emission penetrates through clouds, and the signal is very different between open water and ice).
- This method is used to learn how climate is affecting polar ice, specifically, the extent of the ice and how large an area is covered by ice.
- This visualization shows ice extent in the background and ice area in the foreground.
- Comment from expert scientist: The description of the animation could be confusing to those not familiar with the topic. Be sure to include the following points during introduction to students:
1) Describe what is meant by sea ice concentration (i.e. that it tells you how much sea ice is in each satellite pixel, ranging from 0 to 100%).
2) The satellite does not technically measure the ice concentration, but rather the brightness "temperature" that is converted to sea ice concentration.
About the Pedagogy
- Animation can be downloaded in a variety of forms allowing an educator to infuse this into a lesson on Arctic climate changes.
- The videos could be used in a class presentation or images can be presented on a worksheet.
- Students should have an understanding of concepts of area vs. volume and concentration, what sea ice is and its importance.
Technical Details/Ease of Use
- Easy to use.
- A number of different sizes and file formats are available for download. However, some of the files are large and take a long time to download, so the educator should download prior to the class. Simple and complex animation files are available and the variety of image types makes this a very customizable tool.
- Difficult to see difference in color coding; might be useful to watch multiple times to better visualize and differentiate.
