Grades 6-8
Student Investigation: Fire Ice in the Deep Sea
Grade Level:
6th-8th grade (Physical Science/Properties of Matter)
Lesson Description:
A gas hydrate is an ice-like substance that forms in deep-sea sediments when low-density gas, like methane, ethane, or carbon dioxide, combines but does not chemically bond with water and freezes into a solid under low temperature and moderate pressure conditions. In this investigation, students analyze chemical structures and make observations in order to develop and use a model to explain the phenomenon: How does methane hydrate form on and below the seafloor?
Lesson Components:
Standards:
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS):
- Performance Expectation: MS-PS1-4
- Disciplinary Core Ideas: PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter
Ocean Literacy Essential Principles:
- Principle 5: FCs e, g
Supporting Images/Videos:
Methane Hydrate Formation Demonstration Video. Video courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration.
Download larger version. (mp4, 2.5 MB)
Supplemental Materials:
Introductory Activity
Fact Sheets
- Cold Seeps (pdf, 2.37 MB) | en español (pdf, 329 KB)
- Cold Seep Communities (pdf, 2.45 MB) | en español (pdf, 294 KB)
- Chemosynthesis (pdf, 2.03 MB) | en español (pdf, 1.38 MB)
Exploration Notes – stories from the field
- Cold Seeps of the U.S. Atlantic
- An Unexpected Discovery: Connecting Habitats and Teams
- An Update on Cold Seeps in the Northwestern Atlantic Ocean