Impacts of Topography on Sea Level Change

Notes from our reviewers

The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness. Read what our review team had to say about this resource below or learn more about how CLEAN reviews teaching materials.

• Teaching Tips
  Great extension activity in supplement lessons is the one on fresh water availability and how it will be affected by sea level rise and economic impact. Educator should try to discuss the homework from "Activity 3: Mapping Shorelines" to ensure student consideration of the impacts of ice melt and sea level rise. A class discussion may suffice. Activity 3 needs more explicit directions for the worksheet students fill out. The second activity should include safety precautions for working with sharp instruments.
• About the Science
  Activity covers how sea level rise will affect humans, especially fresh water availability and tourism. Students follow multiple exercises that relate to the concept of sea level rise and its impacts. Activity offers great insight on how the landforms will change due to sea level rise. Google Earth offers some animations that can be used to simulate sea level rise http://services.google.com/earth/kmz/changing_sea_level_n.kmz. Comment from the scientist: Sea level rise is a very complex issue, which is heavily based on Earth's gravity field. The ocean will, therefore, not rise equally in all locations. This should not be the highlight, but may be noted by the educator.
• About the Pedagogy
  Lead-ins to activities are very engaging and well organized. Lesson is active and integrates thoughtful discussion questions. Working in groups and using visualizations and hands-on activities helps to accommodate a variety of learning styles. Contains list of linked resources, which are strong and could be incorporated in the lessons.
• Technical Details/Ease of Use
  The link to the topographic map is filled with ads; bypass these by clicking (again) on "topofinder" tab. You should not need to register for "trails.com" to gain access to topographic maps. The animation of the increased sea level needs directions for use. Also, it should be called an "interactive" not an "animation." Directions for use are as follows: A click and hold will change the sea level when the mouse is moved up and down. Click, hold, and move left to right rotates the globe to view different continents. There is a command on the interactive toolbar that converts the mouse clicks and holds to zoom and lateral movement. List of needed materials is very California-centric (e.g. grocery store names). Educators should check links and test computer simulation (segment 1) before teaching.