Ice age

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/ice-age

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the current icehouse epoch?Late Cenozoic Ice Age, initiated 34 million years ago
2. What is the quaternary glaciation onset?Began 2.58 million years ago, characterized by cyclical glacial and interglacial periods
3. How long has the current ice age lasted?The current ice age, called the Late Cenozoic Ice Age, began about 34 million years ago and is still going on.
4. What happened during the Last Glacial Maximum?During the Last Glacial Maximum, around 26,000 to 20,000 years ago, ice sheets covered much of North America and Eurasia, and sea levels fell by more than 100 meters.

Cryosphere: All the parts of Earth where water is in solid form, including ice sheets, glaciers, and snow.
Insolation: The amount of solar radiation received at a particular location on Earth's surface.
Albedo: The measure of how much light that hits a surface is reflected without being absorbed.
Anthropocene: A proposed new geological epoch characterized by significant human impact on Earth's geology and ecosystems.