Ice sheet

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-sheet

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. How big is Ice sheet?Exceeds 50,000 km²
2. What is the present-day ice sheets?Antarctic Ice Sheet, Greenland Ice Sheet
3. What is the ice flow mechanism?Gravitational spreading from central plateau, influenced by basal meltwater
4. Where are the ice sheets that still exist today?Today only two ice sheets are left: the Antarctic Ice Sheet in Antarctica and the Greenland Ice Sheet in Greenland. They are the remnants of a colder time when many more ice sheets covered the Earth.
5. How do ice sheets move?Ice sheets slowly flow from their thick center to the edges because of gravity. Warm heat from the Earth can melt the base, making the ice slide faster in places called ice streams.

Continental Glacier: A vast body of glacial ice covering extensive landmasses, synonymous with ice sheet.
Geothermal Heat Flux: The flow of thermal energy from the Earth's interior to its surface.
Supraglacial Lakes: Lakes that form on the surface of glaciers or ice sheets due to melting.
Albedo: The measure of how much light that hits a surface is reflected without being absorbed.