Thermal Expansion & Sea Level Rise

• This video by the Paleontological Research Institution describes thermal expansion, how it can be measured experimentally, and how the equation can be used to answer important questions. 
• It details how thermal expansion causes a significant amount of sea level rise with increasing temperatures. 
  

Positives

• This is a great video of a thermal expansion experiment and the speaker walks students through the equation at a good pace.
• The graphs about sea level rise are impactful.
  

Additional Prerequisites

• You may want to teach your students how to navigate between metric and imperial units.
• If you decide to replicate this experiment in your lab you will need the appropriate materials ready beforehand.

Differentiation

• Advanced students could experiment with varying degrees of diluted sea water to see if the melting of the ice caps will increase or decrease the rate of thermal expansion in the ocean.
• If you decide to replicate the experiment shown in this video, students could work in pairs or groups. 
• Other resources about sea level rise include this interactive map from NOAA on sea level rise, sea level data from NASA, and this lesson looking at Earth's vital signs, including sea level rise.

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.