Name ________________________________ Period ___________ Date ______________________
Today you will conduct an experiment to determine which type of ice melting will affect sea level rise
more --- land ice (glaciers) or sea ice. Rising sea-levels threaten millions of people world-wide though
flooding, erosion, salt water intrusion into fresh water, and rising water tables.
Which do you think will have the greatest effect on sea level rise?
Hypothesis: ___________________________________________________________________________
Experiment: 1) Place one equal-sized piece of ice
in a small beaker (do first) and fill it to 60 ml with
tap water. Add 60 ml of water to a large
graduated cylinder. 2) Place the funnel in a
graduated cylinder and add an ice cube to the
funnel. Document the volume of water/ice held
in each container. After 45 minutes, measure the
volume.
1) Which model represents sea ice?
2) Which model represents ice on land?
After setting up your lab, has your hypothesis changed? If so, explain:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Data:
Time in Minutes
Volume (ml) of liquid water in the land
model - FUNNEL AND CYLINDER:
60
Volume (ml) of liquid water in the sea
ice model – BEAKER:
60
0
45
Volume Change -/+
Percent of change*
*To find percent of change: Divide the change by the start volume and then multiply by 100.
Analyze your data:
1) In which situation did the rise in water volume occur the most? Use data to support your answer.
2) Why do you think the results of the experiment ended the way they did?
3) What variable(s) may have existed to affect the accuracy of the data you collected?
4) Based on the results, which type of ice melting will have the greatest impact on humans living along
coastlines? Use data to support your answer.