Thermal Expansion and Sea Level Rise
https://scied.ucar.edu/activity/thermal-expansion-water
https://scied.ucar.edu/activity/thermal-expansion-water
Lisa Gardiner, Windows to the Universe/UCAR SciEd
Experiment will take one class period.
Learn more about Teaching Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness»
See how this Short Demonstration/Experiment supports the Next Generation Science Standards»
Grade Level
Climate Literacy
This Short Demonstration/Experiment builds on the following concepts of Climate Literacy.
Click a topic below for supporting information, teaching ideas, and sample activities.
Energy Literacy
This Short Demonstration/Experiment builds on the following concepts of Energy Literacy.
Click a topic below for supporting information, teaching ideas, and sample activities.
Notes From Our Reviewers
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Teaching Tips | Science | Pedagogy |
Technical Details
Teaching Tips
- Demonstration/experiment needs to be embedded in a lesson that explains the science around sea level rise. The given text can lead to misconceptions.
- Include a discussion on ice sheets and glaciers to reinforce climate literacy principles.
- Please reinforce the use of safety glasses.
- Pay close attention, the expansion happens quickly. Have students watch the water carefully.
- Activity can easily be done without a bunsen burner. It works well if the flask is put in sunlight (which is a much more realistic set-up and better comparison to what is happening in the real world). It takes less than a 45-min class period for the water level to rise significantly.
About the Content
- A simple demonstration of thermal expansion.
- The description talks about sea level rise at the end of the last ice age as well as the most recent sea level rise. The numbers given are not referenced and not discussed sufficiently. More background information is required for students to put them into context.
- Additional background information necessary to support the concept of thermal expansion in oceans and the connection to global warming. This NOAA Ocean Heat Content resource could be very helpful: http://www.oco.noaa.gov/oceanHeatContentProduct.html.
- The “Important points to remember” might confuse students. The wording is not scientifically clear, “If this heat from global temperature rise is passed on to the water, water expands and increases in volume.” Another way to write this might be “As the lower atmosphere warms up due to added greenhouse gases, some of the heat is passed on to the ocean. The oceans warm up, and the water expands and increases in volume. At the present, warming of ocean water is raising global sea level because water expands when it warms.”
- Comments from expert scientist: Simple and clear experiment to demonstrate thermal expansion of water. Asks for predictions prior to observing what happens. Uses 14,000 years ago as the start of the present inter-glacial warm period. 10,000 years ago is the more commonly used and agreed upon. Some points in the background information may be misleading, It is advised to track down other background materials for explanations.
About the Pedagogy
- Hands-on activity will engage students of different learning styles. Focuses on a single concept and demonstrates it quite well.
- Detailed instructions for the experimental set-up are included; activity can be done as a class demonstration or a hands-on experiment.
- Not too much supporting materials for teachers. Educators might need to improve the assessment provided.
- Comments from expert scientist: The learning outcomes ask students to compare and contrast thermal expansion with other ways sea level can rise and asks students to make predictions for coastlines. The resource only addresses the first learning goal.
