Prehistoric Play: Ice Age Discovery

 

Right now its hard to find a way to beat the summer heat. After all it is Florida and it has been oppressively HOT!!!! So why not create your own little Ice Age. This is a cute and simple science activity you can do with your little ones at home to help them understand how animals can be preserved in Ice and how scientist can find them many years later and study them. To learn a little more about the last Ice Age and the animals that were there click here.

All you need to do to prepare is find a large bowl or bundt cake pan. Fill it with water and add some plastic critters. They can be bugs, dinosaurs, ocean animals whatever you happen to have lying around.

Freeze overnight. The next day run a little warm water around the edge of the pan to loosen your glacier sample.

Have your little scientist head outside with a rubber hammer, or other plastic tools like a fork or spoon. Have them try to free the animals from their glacier. When they are done setting them free you can talk about how the animals might have found their way into the ice. They can also investigate their animals and compare them. How many legs do they have? Are they insects, mammals or reptiles?

Another great science concept to introduce is the effects of the sun (heat) on their glacier (ice). You can talk to them about how the sun's heat warms the Earth and melts our glaciers filling our oceans with more water. Depending on how old your children are you might even talk to them about ways our climate has changed over the past, and how the polar caps and glaciers are melting more rapidly within the last 100 years.
Beginning with basic science activities helps lay a foundation for your child as they enter the classroom and are exposed to a variety of science concepts. It is never too early to start talking science with your little ones!