You do the Math!
Create Your Own Sea Level Activity
Supplies: Aquarium, model train house* & vehicles (size #10), 10 to
12 personal size water bottles (500 ml each) colored with food
coloring to represent melting glacial ice. *(2 story house equals
~ 20 feet in height without peaked roof, and ~24 ft. with roof).
Set up:: Insert a ‘lift’ in the aquarium to create a base for your ‘waterfront’
house. (We used a square glass vase for this). The lift you use must be
tall enough to allow for a starting base of water in the aquarium of ~ 4 to
5 inches. Fill the aquarium so the water is just below your waterfront
property.
Now you are ready to start. You will begin adding the colored water
bottles (leave the water in the bottles and add them just as they are).
The water bottles represent the amount of water in the ice sheets that
would be added to sea level if the ice were to melt.
As you add the melting ‘ice sheet’ slowly watching the water
level rise on your waterfront house.
Stop when the water level has risen to cover one story of the
house ~10 ft. This represents ~half the melting of ice in the West
Antarctic Ice Sheet
More water was added and sea level has risen to cover two
stories of the house ~20 ft. This is ~ how much Sea Level Rise is
in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Add more bottles until sea level rises to cover just over the top of
the roof ~24 ft.
~24 ft. is the amount of sea level rise contained in the Greenland
Ice Sheet. Count how many bottles you have added. We want to
know how much sea level rise is represented by each bottle. How
would you do this? Now you do the math - calculate the answer!
There is ~SEVEN times as much water in the East Antarctic Ice Sheet
as in the Greenland Ice Sheet. How much water is this? You do the
math! How many more bottles would you need to be able to fit in your
aquarium to demonstrate this?
How Do They
‘Measure up’?
Let’s look at the real
world. How much of
these well known
structures would be
above water? You
do the math!
Statue of Liberty
151 feet from feet
to torch (with base
it is 305 feet)
George Washington
Bridge 212 feet from
roadway to water
Golden Gate Bridge 250
feet from roadway to water
Last slide. Move on
to a new activity!