Glaciers interactive simulation

Notes from our reviewers

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• Teaching Tips
  Sample lesson plan can be accessed here: http://phet.colorado.edu/en/contributions/view/3133 Does require free registration. Teachers are strongly encouraged to go through the activity sheet and simulation prior to using with students so that they understand what the students will be asked to do.
• About the Science
  Scientific tools are provided in this animation to measure thickness, glacier velocity, and glacial budget. Simulation will help students understand glacier mass balances so that they are well prepared to discuss the effects of climate change on glaciers.
• About the Pedagogy
  Very easy and well-designed simulation with two different levels (introduction and advanced). Can be used to meet the following learning goals: Explain how environmental conditions, temperature, and precipitation impact glacial mass budget; identify where snow accumulates in a glacier, and justify why; explain how ice moves within a glacier; describe and illustrate flow within a glacier; explain or illustrate glacial dynamics. Supportive information, including a lesson plan, is available from the website.
• Technical Details/Ease of Use
  Simulation can be run online, embedded, or downloaded. Due to recent changes in Mac OS, some users may have trouble running the interactive. PhET has good details for help. https://phet.colorado.edu/en/help-center/running-sims Technically robust and well designed.