Melting of the Greenland Ice Cap

In this activity, students learn about the different causes of sea level rise. Students conduct experiments that demonstrate how ice shelf melting may not directly affect sea levels, but how ice cap melting would. Students use maps and geometry to estimate the volume of the Greenland ice cap and then, after doing some examples, they calculate the rise in sea level that would result if the entire ice cap were to melt. Students may then conduct further research to investigate the consequences of the sea cap melting for humans and other elements of our environment.