Icebergs and Glaciers

Yesterday we headed toward the ocean by slidding down a glacier and taking an iceberg out to sea.  We talked about how glaciers and icebergs are made out of fresh water.  The kids loved these pictures and this slide show.

We read a great story about ice and the North Pole from the Cat in the Hat series.

We raced "glaciers" (ice cubes) down the slide.  They were a little too speedy since glaciers only slide around 164 feet a year.

The kids then each got their own "iceberg" that had calved off the glacier.

The kids added some salt to initiate melting and we talked about the salt water in the ocean and how the salt melts the ice.  We also talked about how salt water is more buoyant. This egg sunk in the fresh water, but it floated in the salt water.

 

Next the kids added food coloring to their icebergs to watch the colors flow down the melted cracks.  After an hour all the colors had seeped through the ice toward the bottom and Kate commented that it looked like the blueish coloring of a real iceberg.

Start                                Middle                          Finish  

To end the afternoon we enjoyed some shaved ice.

Later in the day Grandma Mona came to visit and she brought some iceberg-shaped rice krispie treats.

It all made for a pretty "cool" day!