Back to the lesson plan builder
Lesson length30 min45 min60 min
Questions🔀 New questions

Print the plan for yourself; the student sheet prints on its own page after it.

Science lesson plan · 2nd grade (Year 3 in England) · 60 minutes

Frozen water on Earth: glaciers, ice sheets and icebergs

Earth and rocks

CCSS NGSS.2-ESS2-3England: KS1 Geography linksEngland: KS2 Y4 States of matter

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Frozen water on Earth: glaciers, ice sheets and icebergs.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Salt water or fresh water? Where Earth's water is

Leads to: the next skill in this area.

Materials: Rock samples, Hand lenses, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 6 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Salt water or fresh water? Where Earth's water is). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Is this salt water or fresh water: the Pacific Ocean? (salt water / fresh water) → salt waterPrompt: Is it part of the sea, or does it come from rain, snow and rivers?
  2. Where is most of Earth's FRESH water? (in clouds / frozen in ice sheets and glaciers / in swimming pools / in rivers) → frozen in ice sheets and glaciersPrompt: Antarctica and Greenland are covered in thick ice.
  3. True or false? Some lakes are salty, like the Dead Sea. (True / False) → TruePrompt: Oceans are salty. Where else is water found?

Hook · 6 min

  • Pass round different rocks and ask how each one might have formed.
  • Share the objective: Frozen water on Earth: glaciers, ice sheets and icebergs. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 12 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Which description matches a glacier?
  • Step 1: So the answer is: a huge river of ice that slowly slides downhill
  • Answer: a huge river of ice that slowly slides downhill
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 12 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. Which description matches an iceberg? (a big piece of ice floating in the sea after breaking off a glacier / thin ice crystals that form on cold surfaces overnight / a huge river of ice that slowly slides downhill / ice that covers a whole land area, like Antarctica) → a big piece of ice floating in the sea after breaking off a glacierPrompt: Think about where each one is found and how big it is.
  2. Why does most of an iceberg stay hidden under the water? (Fish hold it down. / Ice is only a little lighter than water, so it floats low. / Ice sinks to the bottom. / Icebergs are shy.) → Ice is only a little lighter than water, so it floats low.Prompt: Try floating an ice cube in a glass. How much sticks out?

You do: independent practice · 17 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 7 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. True or false? Icebergs are made of frozen seawater. (True / False) → FalsePrompt: Ice is solid water. Where does glacier ice come from?
  2. Which description matches frost? (a huge river of ice that slowly slides downhill / thin ice crystals that form on cold surfaces overnight / ice that covers a whole land area, like Antarctica / soft ice crystals that fall from clouds) → thin ice crystals that form on cold surfaces overnightPrompt: Think about where each one is found and how big it is.

Watch out for

  • Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
  • Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Salt water or fresh water? Where Earth's water is.
  • Use concrete materials: rock samples.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-2.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

eurekami

Frozen water on Earth: glaciers, ice sheets and icebergs

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    Which description matches sea ice?

    • A. a layer of frozen seawater on the ocean surface
    • B. soft ice crystals that fall from clouds
    • C. thin ice crystals that form on cold surfaces overnight
    • D. a big piece of ice floating in the sea after breaking off a glacier

  2. Question 2

    True or false? Glaciers move very slowly downhill.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  3. Question 3

    Why do towns near glaciers care if the glaciers melt away?

    • A. Glaciers keep the towns warm.
    • B. Glaciers make the towns bigger.
    • C. They do not care at all.
    • D. Glacier meltwater fills their rivers in summer.

  4. Question 4

    Which description matches snow?

    • A. a huge river of ice that slowly slides downhill
    • B. a layer of frozen seawater on the ocean surface
    • C. a big piece of ice floating in the sea after breaking off a glacier
    • D. soft ice crystals that fall from clouds

  5. Question 5

    True or false? Snow and glaciers are not water.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  6. Question 6

    Why does most of an iceberg stay hidden under the water?

    • A. Ice sinks to the bottom.
    • B. Ice is only a little lighter than water, so it floats low.
    • C. Fish hold it down.
    • D. Icebergs are shy.

  7. Question 7

    Glaciers in the Alps and the Rockies are shrinking. What is the main reason?

    • A. People are taking the ice home.
    • B. The mountains are growing.
    • C. It is snowing too much.
    • D. Earth's climate is getting warmer.

  8. Question 8

    Which description matches an ice sheet?

    • A. soft ice crystals that fall from clouds
    • B. a huge river of ice that slowly slides downhill
    • C. a big piece of ice floating in the sea after breaking off a glacier
    • D. ice that covers a whole land area, like Antarctica

Free from eurekami.com

for the adult only

Answer key: Frozen water on Earth: glaciers, ice sheets and icebergs

  1. 1. A. a layer of frozen seawater on the ocean surface

  2. 2. A. True

  3. 3. D. Glacier meltwater fills their rivers in summer.

  4. 4. D. soft ice crystals that fall from clouds

  5. 5. B. False

  6. 6. B. Ice is only a little lighter than water, so it floats low.

  7. 7. D. Earth's climate is getting warmer.

  8. 8. D. ice that covers a whole land area, like Antarctica