Activity 01
Modeling Station: Glacial Erosion
Provide trays with clay valleys, wooden blocks as bedrock, and ice blocks with sand. Students push ice over clay to observe abrasion and plucking, then sketch changes. Rotate materials after 10 minutes for comparison.
Analyze the mechanisms by which glaciers erode and transport material.
Facilitation TipDuring the Modeling Station, remind students to keep the ice moving steadily to simulate glacier flow and observe how embedded sand or gravel scrapes the clay valley floor.
What to look forProvide students with images of two distinct landforms, one erosional (e.g., a corrie) and one depositional (e.g., a drumlin). Ask them to: 1. Identify each landform. 2. State whether it was formed by erosion or deposition. 3. Write one sentence explaining the key process involved in its formation.
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Activity 02
Map Activity: Irish Glacial Landforms
Distribute maps of Ireland highlighting glaciated areas like Wicklow Mountains and Midlands drumlins. In pairs, students label erosional and depositional features, then create a class mural annotating evidence. Discuss regional patterns.
Differentiate between erosional and depositional landforms created by glaciers.
Facilitation TipFor the Map Activity, have students use colored pencils to trace glacial movements before labeling landforms, reinforcing spatial relationships.
What to look forPose the question: 'Imagine you are a scientist studying the Irish landscape 15,000 years ago. What evidence would you look for to prove that glaciers had once covered the land?' Guide students to discuss features like smoothed valleys, erratics (large boulders), and specific depositional landforms.
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Activity 03
Build Challenge: Landform Dioramas
Groups use playdough, sand, and water to construct U-valleys, corries, and moraines. Add 'glacier' with blue gel and pebbles. Present models explaining formation processes to the class.
Evaluate the evidence of past glaciation in the Irish landscape.
Facilitation TipIn the Build Challenge, circulate with guiding questions such as 'How would a glacier carry this rock debris?' to prompt depositional pattern thinking.
What to look forDisplay a map of Ireland highlighting areas known for glacial features (e.g., the Midlands drumlin fields, glaciated mountains in the west). Ask students to point to or name one specific landform they expect to find in a highlighted region and explain whether it is erosional or depositional.
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Activity 04
Evidence Hunt: Photo Analysis
Show photos of Irish sites like Gap of Dunloe. Individually note glacial clues, then share in whole class discussion to categorize as erosion or deposition.
Analyze the mechanisms by which glaciers erode and transport material.
Facilitation TipDuring the Evidence Hunt, ask students to sketch each landform before reading captions, building observation skills before interpretation.
What to look forProvide students with images of two distinct landforms, one erosional (e.g., a corrie) and one depositional (e.g., a drumlin). Ask them to: 1. Identify each landform. 2. State whether it was formed by erosion or deposition. 3. Write one sentence explaining the key process involved in its formation.
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Generate Complete Lesson→A few notes on teaching this unit
Teachers should avoid rushing to definitions before students experience the processes firsthand. Start with the Modeling Station to build intuition, then use the Map Activity to ground ideas in real places. Research shows that students retain glacial processes better when they connect abstract mechanics to observable landforms, so prioritize outdoor or virtual Irish examples whenever possible.
Successful learning looks like students confidently identifying erosional and depositional features, explaining processes like abrasion and till deposition with evidence from their models or maps, and applying these ideas to Irish landscapes without mixing up U-shaped versus V-shaped valleys.
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
During the Modeling Station, watch for students who believe glaciers simply melt and drop rocks anywhere.
Use the ice-and-clay setup to demonstrate how rocks embedded in ice scrape the valley floor (abrasion) and freeze onto bedrock before being pulled away (plucking), then show how those rocks accumulate in a terminal moraine at the glacier's end.
During the Map Activity, listen for students who claim Ireland has no glacial evidence because glaciers are gone today.
Have students trace the drumlin fields on the map and match them to real locations in the Irish Midlands, then sketch a corrie in Kerry’s MacGillycuddy’s Reeks to connect modern landscapes to past ice coverage.
During the Build Challenge, note if students assume all valleys are U-shaped from glaciers.
Ask groups to build both a V-shaped river valley using damp sand and a U-shaped glacial valley using clay, then compare the two models to highlight how glaciers widen and deepen valleys through erosion.
Methods used in this brief