This film explains glaciation: what it is, how it shapes the land, and the effects of climate change on the world’s glaciers.
Glaciation refers to the formation of huge bodies of ice called glaciers, and the way they erode and change the landscape as they move.
Glaciers are made of densely packed snow that's fallen in the same place over years and years.
Each fresh fall of snow adds to the weight, crushing the layers of snow below, turning it into ice.
A glacier is a bit like a very, very slow moving river and just like a river, it changes the landscape around it over time - a very, very long time.
As they move along, glaciers can pick up pretty much anything in their path, from pebbles to massive boulders. It all depends on how big the glacier is and how fast it is moving.
As glacial ice moves very slowly downhill, pieces of rock and gravel get stuck between the ice and the land, forming a coarse surface, similar to the sand on sandpaper. These rocks grind together, creating tiny grains of dust, called rock flour.
Some glaciers flow all the way to the sea and when they get there, pieces of the glacier can break off and form icebergs.
Thousands of years ago, glaciers were a feature of the landscape here in Britain and they left behind many U-shaped valleys that can be found in places like the Lake District in England and the Highlands of Scotland.
Today, glaciers store about three quarters of the Earth's fresh water, more than all the rivers and lakes put together.
Climate change is having a real impact on them. Even in the Antarctic, the coldest place on Earth, there is increasing evidence that rising temperatures are causing glaciers to melt. If this continues, scientists predict it will have a devastating impact on the planet.
If all of the Earth's glaciers were to melt, sea levels would rise by an estimated seventy metres. That's higher than ten two-storey houses piled on top of each other.
Video summary
Download/print a transcript of the video.
A short film for secondary schools explaining glaciation: what it is, how it shapes the land and the effects of climate change on the world’s glaciers.
The film gives examples of glacial processes and provides an opportunity for students to put these into context through fieldwork or by investigating secondary sources.
It can help provide an effective introduction to the AQA GCSE geography specification.
Teacher Notes
This short film is an ideal tool to help students understand the processes of glaciation and how they shape and impact the landscape. It offers an understanding of the processes through illustrated visuals and footage of real landscapes to add context.
It can be used as a starting point to discuss and consider how glaciers have shaped landscapes in the past and how they continue to do so today.
It also provides an opportunity for students to discuss how climate change is impacting on glaciers and their processes.
Points for discussion:
What is a glacier?
How do glaciers shape the landscape?
What does glacial erosion look like?
How does glacial erosion impact on human life?
Suggested activities:
After watching this short film, students could explore how patterns of glacial erosion have shaped the landscape over time and which of these features can be seen today.
Students could carry out fieldwork in areas that have been shaped by glaciers to find examples of key features of glacial erosion and to investigate what has replaced glaciers today.
Can students find out how landscapes are changed by glacial erosion and then modified by other factors, for example rivers, in subsequent periods?
This short film is relevant for teaching geography at KS3 in England and Northern Ireland, 3rd and 4th Level in Scotland, and Progression Step 4 in Wales.
Students and teachers over the age of 16 can create a free Financial Times account. For a Financial Times article about the glaciers in the Himalayas from 2019, click here.
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