Reading the Ice: teacher key

The Arctic and Antarctica, grade 9 edition, written for 9th grade. Snow layers, drilled cores and ocean currents help scientists learn about the poles. Read how they work and why Antarctica is set aside for science.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What does each yearly layer of snow record?
   • Only the ocean
   • That year's chemistry and texture (answer)
   • The depth of the sea
2. How do scientists date ice cores?
   • With volcanic ash found in the cores (answer)
   • With a calendar
   • By their color
3. What does the Antarctic Convergence mark?
   • The South Pole
   • The deepest ocean
   • The edge of the Antarctic region (answer)
4. What do glycoproteins do for Antarctic fish?
   • Help them fly
   • Stop their blood from freezing (answer)
   • Make them taste salty
5. Why is a thermometer lowered into an ice core borehole?
   • To measure the ice sheet's temperature directly (answer)
   • To scare animals
   • To freeze the hole

Words

• glycoproteins: antifreeze molecules
• borehole: drilled hole
• convergence: meeting line
• plasma: blood liquid