The Vital Ice STEM Kit has model ice cores that let students explore real data collected in Denali National Park. Students will create a permafrost model, study glacial ice core data and learn about climate change.
Big Concepts: include: 1) permafrost; 2) glacial ice cores; 3) climate change; and 4) cultural context.
Scientific Inquiry Skills include: 1) data collection and analysis; 2) using a multimeter; 3) graphing; 4) scientific illustration; and 5) use of science notebooks.
Vital Ice STEM Kit Tutorials
- Using the Ice Core Scanning Device video (coming soon)
- Vital Ice STEM Kit Use Instructions (complete teacher guide)
- Vital Ice STEM Kit Clean-Up & Repacking Instructions
- Vital Ice STEM Kit Material List
Vital Ice STEM Kit Resources
- Ice Core Graph Templates
- Science Notebook Template (for use in lieu of Science Notebooks)
- Science Notebook Template (Spanish version)
- Science Notebook Evaluation Rubric
- Vital Ice STEM Kit Classroom Discussion Questions
- Vital Ice STEM Kit Instruction Booklet (for more information, contact Andrew Warnock)
Other Helpful Resources
- Global Surface Temperature Visualization
- Climate Change at Denali National Park
- What is an Ice Core?
- Temperature Changes in Alaska
- Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes
Borrowing Vital Ice STEM Kits
Educators in Alaska should contact Stacia Backensto at stacia_backensto@nps.gov or 907.455.0669 for information on how to borrow the kits – there are sets in Fairbanks and at Denali and Kenai Fjords National Parks that can be mailed out to teachers around the state.
Colorado Educators should contact the NSEOC through the loan applications below.
There is no charge to educators who wish to borrow any of our STEM kits. We appreciate applications be submitted at least 2 weeks in advance of the desired use date. The loan application forms require you to confirm your email address before it will be sent to the EOC – so once you click submit, check your email (including the junk folder)! You should also get a copy of the form for your records via email, if you don’t, please contact Courtney Gooding Butler (courtney.butler@colostate.edu).
- Local Pick-Up Loan Application Form – for educators in the immediate area of Fort Collins (i.e.: Greeley, Loveland, Ault, Windsor, Johnstown, etc.)
- Delivery Loan Application Form – for educators in Colorado outside of the immediate Fort Collins area
- Educator Feedback Survey – must be completed after returning kits to the NSEOC and before another kit can be requested
When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world. – John Muir
