Glacial landscapes

2. Ice Age Britain

Required Resources

• Slides 11-14
• Student Worksheet 2

Delivery

• Use Slides 11-13 to give a brief explanation of climate change throughout Britain's geological history. Explain that during certain periods in Britain's history the climate got considerably colder. These periods (Ice Ages) were periods of intense glacial activity. The last ice age started about 100,000 years ago and ended 10,000 years ago. Although there are debates over the precise dates.
• During the last ice age, all of Scotland, Northern Ireland, most of Wales and England (down to a line between Lundy and London) was covered by an area of ice. Glaciers formed and moved down valleys with great erosive power, carving new features and depositing the eroded materials over wide areas.
• Display Slide 14 which contains a map showing the areas of Britain which were particularly affected by glaciation.
• Distribute Student Worksheet 2 which also contains a copy of this map with various areas labelled with letters. In pairs, students should use the internet (or Atlas maps if ICT not available) to find the names of these areas and record each against the appropriate letter.

Differentiation

Lower Ability:

Mixed ability pairs will help lower ability students who are less confident using maps.