Using School of Ice Laboratory Tools for Undergraduate Climate Change Education

Lab-centered teaching is an integral part of the Climatology course taught at Delaware State University, which uses course materials developed by the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Education Program. Laboratory activities become the centerpiece of the students’ learning - allowing them to make real-world connections to material acquired during lecture, and implementing the concepts and skills learned through hands-on discovery. During the 2015 and 2016 School of Ice advanced professional development workshop conducted by the U.S. Ice Drilling Program Office in partnership with AMS, faculty were introduced to many aspects of ice-science and equipped with tools and knowledge to share with their classrooms. Following participation in the School of Ice, two lesson plans focusing on student learning about climate change from ice core data particularly relevant to our Climatology course were further developed, and taught in conjunction with one another. The first laboratory activity, entitled Ice Core Research, was adapted from the laboratory “Exploring the History of Climate Change” - Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources-Climate Change: A Wisconsin Activity Guide. In this activity, students discovered first-hand what historical information scientists can obtain about climate from ice cores by analyzing the pH and relative amount of particulates in each layer of a homemade ice core. In the second laboratory, students built upon the knowledge gained from the first laboratory, and discovered how the deuterium/hydrogen isotope ratio, a paleoproxy for temperature in ice cores, can be used by scientists to gain temperature information about the past. This activity was adapted from a hands-on Ice Core Laboratory and allowed students to participate in scientific practices such as collecting, processing, and interpreting temperature and CO₂ data. Students dissected and analyzed layers of homemade ice cores containing various amounts of colored beads. These beads acted as a proxy for hydrogen isotope ratios present at the time when the layer was formed. To monitor students’ knowledge and understanding of the materials covered in the class, course assessments followed the lectures and laboratory activities. Assessments showed that these lab-centered teaching activities engaged students and enhanced their understanding of how historical ice core data are used to understand changes in the magnitude and rate of temperature changes.