Students at Palau Community College conduct a climate change lab in Fall 2022 during Marine Science Class.

Activities adapted by Sarah Fuller from School of Ice U.S. Ice Drilling Program Education and Outreach Curriculum (https://icedrill-education.org/school-of-ice/)

Data loggers and sensors donated by Vernier Science Education Inc. (https://www.vernier.com/)

Lab 1: Ice Cores, Paleorecord of Carbon Dioxide Concentration in Atmosphere, and Ocean Acidification

In this lab students observe model ice cores and count the annual layers of ice accumulation. Students notice the air bubbles in the model that trap samples of past atmospheres.  Students then use conductivity sensors to measure the amount of carbon dioxide from melted ice core samples and graph the results. Finally the students conduct an experiment to determine the effect of carbon dioxide on ocean pH by comparing the absolute change and rates of pH change in ocean and fresh water.

Part 2. Paleorecord of Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide from Ice Core Samples

Students in PCC Marine Science course use conductivity sensors with Vernier LabQuest data collection interface to collect data on the concentration of CO2 dissolved in water from simulated ice core samples from the past.

Part 3. Carbon Dioxide and Ocean Acidification

Using Vernier LabQuest data loggers and pH sensors students bubbled CO2 into both natural ocean water samples and distilled water. Students graphed the change in pH over the course of 1-2 minutes constant bubbling and calculated the rate of change of pH drop during the introduction of CO2 from their breath into the two different water samples. Students discussed the buffering capacity of the ocean and observed pH changes.

Lab 2: Melting Ice and Sea Level Rise

In this lab students make predictions about how melting of different types of ice (grounded, floating, or land-based) will affect sea level rise. Students construct models of these different ice scenarios and observe the effects of melting on sea level rise. Next students construct a model ocean and calculate how density of the ocean changes as fresh meltwater is added to their model. Students draw conclusions about how these density changes could alter thermohaline circulation.

Part 1. Types of ice, melting, and effects of sea level

Students learn that the type of ice affects the contribution of its melting to sea level rise. They draw conclusiions about the importance of accurate predictions for sea level rise depend on careful analysis of the current types and amounts of ice on earth.

Part 2.  Freshwater melting, ocean water density, and thermohaline circulation

Students add freshwater to a model ocean, record the volume and mass changes as they proceed through the experiment. After recording the data they graph changes in density and predict how this effects thermohaline circulation and heat distribution through the ocean conveyor belt.