Glacial Landforms and Processes

Active learning works for glacial landforms because the movement and impact of glaciers happen over long timescales, making them difficult to visualize. Hands-on modeling and simulations let students observe erosion and deposition in minutes, turning abstract processes into tangible experiences that build lasting understanding.

• Grade 7
• Geography
• 4 activities
• 35 min–50 min

Learning Objectives

1. Analyze satellite imagery to identify glacial landforms such as U-shaped valleys, cirques, and moraines.
2. Compare and contrast the erosional and depositional processes by which glaciers sculpt the landscape.
3. Explain how glacial meltwater contributes to changes in sea level and freshwater availability.
4. Classify specific Canadian landforms as either erosional or depositional features created by glacial activity.

Document Mystery

⏱ 45 min·Small Groups

Modeling Lab: Glacier Erosion

Provide groups with clay mountains, wooden 'glaciers' (blocks wrapped in sandpaper), and trays. Students push the blocks downhill to simulate abrasion and plucking, then compare before-and-after valley shapes. Discuss results and sketch changes.

Prepare & details

Explain how glacial movement reshapes valleys and mountains.

Facilitation Tip: During the Modeling Lab, circulate with a tray of sand and ice cubes to help students adjust variables like slope and pressure, ensuring they connect deformation to erosion.

Setup: Groups at tables with document sets

Materials: Document packet (5-8 sources), Analysis worksheet, Theory-building template

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Management
• Decision-Making

Document Mystery

⏱ 35 min·Pairs

Map Analysis: Canadian Glacial Features

Distribute topographic maps of areas like Banff or the Canadian Shield. Pairs identify and label U-shaped valleys, moraines, and fjords, then trace glacier flow directions. Share findings in a whole-class gallery walk.

Prepare & details

Differentiate between erosional and depositional landforms created by glaciers.

Facilitation Tip: In the Map Analysis, model annotation by projecting a provincial map and thinking aloud as you mark features, showing students how to interpret contour lines and glacial boundaries.

Setup: Groups at tables with document sets

Materials: Document packet (5-8 sources), Analysis worksheet, Theory-building template

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Management
• Decision-Making

Simulation Game

⏱ 50 min·Small Groups

Simulation Game: Depositional Landforms

Use playdough for bedrock and shaved ice mixed with sand as glacial till. Groups melt ice slowly over 'valleys' to form moraines and kettles, observing sorting by water flow. Record with photos and measurements.

Prepare & details

Predict the impact of retreating glaciers on water resources and sea levels.

Facilitation Tip: For the Simulation, give groups a limited set of materials to force creative problem-solving, such as predicting where a retreating glacier will leave a moraine based on sediment piles.

Setup: Flexible space for group stations

Materials: Role cards with goals/resources, Game currency or tokens, Round tracker

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Document Mystery

⏱ 40 min·Whole Class

Predictive Debate: Glacier Retreat

Divide class into teams to research current glacier data from sources like Parks Canada. Debate impacts on water resources and coasts, using evidence from models. Vote and reflect on predictions.

Prepare & details

Explain how glacial movement reshapes valleys and mountains.

Facilitation Tip: In the Predictive Debate, provide sentence starters on the board like 'I believe glacier retreat will most affect _____ because...' to scaffold evidence-based arguments.

Setup: Groups at tables with document sets

Materials: Document packet (5-8 sources), Analysis worksheet, Theory-building template

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Self-Management
• Decision-Making

Teaching This Topic

Start with the Modeling Lab to establish that glaciers move and erode, then use the Map Analysis to ground these processes in real places. Avoid overemphasizing dramatic features like fjords—focus on gradual changes like drumlins and kettles to highlight widespread glacial effects. Research suggests students grasp deposition best when they physically sort sediments in the Simulation, so prioritize kinesthetic activities over lectures.

What to Expect

Successful learning looks like students confidently explaining how glaciers shape landscapes by linking specific landforms to erosion or deposition. They should use evidence from models and maps to support their reasoning and apply this knowledge to real-world Canadian terrain.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During Modeling Lab, watch for students who treat ice cubes as static blocks, ignoring visible flow lines in the sand.

What to Teach Instead

Press a small piece of ice into the sand and ask students to observe how it deforms under gentle pressure, then have them trace the flow path with a stick to reinforce movement.

Common Misconception

During Simulation: Depositional Landforms, watch for students who assume all sediments pile up uniformly at the glacier’s edge.

What to Teach Instead

Have students vary the angle of their glacier model and measure where till accumulates, linking steeper slopes to longer debris trails and flatter areas to compact moraines.

Common Misconception

During Map Analysis: Canadian Glacial Features, watch for students who associate glacial features only with mountainous regions.

What to Teach Instead

Highlight drumlins in southern Ontario on the projected map, then have students compare topographic profiles of flat vs. mountainous provinces to identify depositional patterns.

Assessment Ideas

Quick Check

After Modeling Lab, display images of a U-shaped valley, drumlin, fjord, and river valley. Ask students to label each as erosional or depositional and explain their choice using evidence from their model.

Discussion Prompt

After Predictive Debate: Glacier Retreat, pose the question 'As a community leader, which glacial feature would you monitor first for freshwater access?' and facilitate a class vote with justification rounds, using their debate notes as evidence.

Exit Ticket

During Simulation: Depositional Landforms, have students sketch a kettle lake or moraine on an index card and write one sentence explaining how the glacier created it, using terms from their activity sheet.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge: Have early finishers predict how a retreating glacier in southern Alberta would reshape the Bow River valley, sketching before-and-after cross-sections with labeled landforms.
• Scaffolding: For struggling students, provide a word bank of landform names and process verbs (e.g., 'scrape,' 'deposit') to annotate their model during the lab.
• Deeper exploration: Invite students to research how Indigenous communities in British Columbia use knowledge of fjords for navigation and resource management, connecting geology to cultural practices.

Key Vocabulary

Glacial Erosion	The process where glaciers wear away rock and soil through abrasion (scraping) and plucking (lifting chunks of rock).
Glacial Deposition	The process where glaciers drop or deposit sediment and rocks that they have carried, often forming distinct landforms.
Moraine	A ridge or mound of unsorted rock and sediment deposited by a glacier, marking its former edge or path.
U-shaped Valley	A valley with steep sides and a broad, flat floor, carved by the immense power of a moving glacier, contrasting with V-shaped river valleys.
Fjord	A long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created when a glacier erodes land below sea level and the sea later floods the valley.