Glaciers Have Shaped MN’s Current Landscape:
Minnesota Academic Content Standards For This Unit:
2. Landforms are the result of the combination of constructive and destructive processes:
8.3.1.2.2: Explain the role of weathering, erosion and glacial activity in shaping
Minnesota’s current landscape.
Essential Question 2: How did glaciers shape our Minnesota landforms?
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Learning Targets:
I can...
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Explain how glaciers use constructive and destructive processes to make landforms.
Explain how Minnesota’s current landscape was shaped by weathering, erosion, and glacial activity.
Developing Understanding:
___ Watch the selected videos in class and record 10 Very Important Points about the basics of glaciers in your
Notebook. Be prepared to discuss this with the class.
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Glacier Power (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIBFAke90SI ),
Fastest Glacier (http://video.pbs.org/video/1506740599/ ),
Inside a Glacier (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Gbfu2-Z_iDI#! ),
Life Cycle of a Glacier (United Streaming) &
Glaciers and their effects (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM3x6_vb8_s&feature=related )
___ Read the MN Rocky Roots Article from the DNR Conservation Volunteer
a) Complete the reading guide to organize your knowledge
b) With your POD, use a whiteboard to describe the role glaciers played in forming present day MN. Be
prepared to share these with the class in a whiteboard discussion.
_X_ Record key glacial terms and big ideas in your notebook during class discussion
___Read, answer and discuss the MN Landscape glacier article. After class discussion, be sure to add to/refine
your notes—these will be helpful later!
___ Do the ice cream lab and answer these “big picture” questions in your notebook: First, take a picture of the results
of your glacial advance/retreat, using an “aerial” (from the top looking down) view. Label landforms using Paint or just
arrows and text boxes in Word.
a. Where did your glacier use destructive processes? Constructive processes?
b. What landforms resulted from your glacier’s activity? (You may need to think of this on a larger scale!
What if it was huge? What would you see as far as landforms?)
c) What parts of MN’s current landscape might your glacier have created? Give evidence based on
landforms “created” to explain why.
Enduring Understanding:
___ Take the Landforms and Glaciers test. Be able to identify, define (in words and as an image), and give
examples of: landforms, constructive and destructive processes, weathering, erosion, and deposition, glacial
lakes, MN glacial evidence, glacial till, moraines and glacial outwash/outwash plain.