Impact of climate change on sea levels
I can explain how global warming can cause sea levels to rise
Impact of climate change on sea levels
I can explain how global warming can cause sea levels to rise
Link copied to clipboard
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.
These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere keep it warmer than it would be without them.
- Heating from the Sun controls the average temperature of Earth.
- Increased temperatures melt ice sheets more quickly, moving more water into the sea, making sea levels rise.
- More sea ice melts in summer, but this does not add water to the sea or raise sea levels.
- Warmer oceans and seas expand, causing sea levels to rise.
Keywords
Global warming - the increase in Earth’s average surface temperature
Sea level - the average level of the surface of the sea
Ice sheets - thick layers of permanent ice found on land
Glacier - a large mass of ice, moving very slowly downhill because of the gravitational force acting on it
Sea ice - floating ice, formed of frozen sea water
Common misconception
Melting icebergs and sea ice cause sea levels to rise.
A detailed explanation of the anomalous properties of ice is not appropirate for most pupils at this stage. Instead, draw attention to water taking up exactly the same space as the part of a floating iceberg that is underwater.
To help you plan your year 8 science lesson on: Impact of climate change on sea levels, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 8 science lesson on: Impact of climate change on sea levels, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 science lessons from the Climate change and greenhouse gases unit, dive into the full secondary science curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
Licence
Lesson video
Loading...
Starter quiz
6 Questions
increase in Earth’s average temperature
a gas in the air that keep Earth warmer than it would be without them
average temperature of all the places on Earth’s surface
long term changes to weather patterns