Teaching Tips

• The web page for this activity offers teaching tips.
• The datasets used in this visualization are specifically about Wisconsin, but the lesson can be applied to any region with ice-covered lakes. Furthermore, it might be useful as a case study of the effects of climate change on the Earth system.

About the Content

• Interactive provides simple buttons that allow users to view the 10 longest seasons, the 10 shortest seasons and the overall trend. The records show significant year-to-year variability in the length of the ice-cover season, but there is a clear trend of fewer ice-cover days over time. In both lakes, the 10 longest ice cover winters were prior to 1905; the shortest ice cover seasons mainly fall in the last 20 years.
• This data illustrates the important point that although there is significant year-to-year variability, there also is an unmistakable trend in these data. There also are pop-ups that give the actual dates of ice cover and melting for each year.
• Data ends in 2010. Up-to-date data can be accessed from the WI climatology office: Mendota and Monona.
• Comments from expert scientist: The resource provides a useful, easy-to-read historical record of ice cover for two well-known lakes in Madison, WI. The biological and limnological significance of changing ice cover on the lakes is explained accurately and at a level accessible to non-scientists. In each case, the science is accurate and accessible to anyone interested in understanding how climate change has affected Wisconsin.

About the Pedagogy

• Very engaging data display that allows students to examine how the period of ice cover has changed over the decades.
• The main point of this visualization is to show that climate change is already happening, and the overall trend is toward significantly fewer ice covered days on these two lakes.
• The simple examination of these datasets opens up questions about the long-term implications for local culture and economy. There are additional examples on this website that explore other impacts of climate change and their implications.
• This data-driven visual can lead to a variety of questions.

Technical Details/Ease of Use

• The technical quality of the graphical and the interactive features is very high.
• Excellent interface.

Related URLs These related sites were noted by our reviewers but have not been reviewed by CLEAN