On May 9, we wrapped up our Crossing America season with a powerful visit to Glacier National Park—one of the most stunning and fragile ecosystems on Earth. With the help of amazing park rangers and over 10,000 students tuning in, we dove deep into the impacts of climate change on glaciers, wildlife, and landscapes—and challenged students to become part of the solution.
🌿 Student Challenge Recap (Aligned with UN Global Goals #13 & #15 – Climate Action & Life on Land):
We launched an engineering design challenge that asked students to think big and act locally. They were tasked with designing nature-based solutions to build climate resilience in their own communities, like:

• Reducing erosion and protecting waterways
• ​Creating safe wildlife corridors
• Designing solar-powered structures for conservation
• Building accessible nature trails that promote climate education

🔍 Students also reflected on how their local environments are changing—from extreme weather to habitat loss—and shared ideas for how to help.
📚 We also spotlighted powerful children’s books that connect Glacier’s story to the larger fight for a healthier planet.
From glacial streams to beaver habitats, students were inspired to dream up real-world solutions—and many even shared their sketches, models, and prototypes with us!
💡 Thank you to everyone who joined us for this unforgettable LiveStream. Together, we’re showing what’s possible when young minds take action for the planet. 🌎✨

CLICK BELOW FOR THE ENGINEERING
​DESIGN CHALLENGE!

Lesson 1: Glacier Math – Scale and Movement
Objective: Help students understand the scale of glaciers, their movement, and how they shape the landscape.
Activity:

• Show students images of Grinnell Glacier and other major glaciers in Glacier National Park. Discuss their size and movement.
• Have students calculate how much a glacier moves over time using real data from Glacier National Park (e.g., an average glacier may move inches to feet per year).
• Challenge students to measure out these distances in the classroom or on a playground, marking the yearly movement of a glacier compared to human walking speed.
• Create a graph showing the retreat of glaciers in Glacier National Park over the past century.

Discussion: How does the slow movement of a glacier cause dramatic changes to the land over time? What happens as glaciers retreat?

Lesson 2: Silt and Tilt – How Glaciers Shape the Land
Objective: Explore how glaciers erode and deposit material to form landforms like valleys and moraines.
Activity:

• Demonstrate glacier erosion by using a block of ice mixed with sand and small pebbles to "scrape" across a soft surface (such as a tray of damp sand or clay). Observe the scratches and grooves left behind.
• Discuss how glaciers pick up sediment (silt, gravel, boulders) and deposit them as they melt, creating features like moraines and outwash plains.
• Have students build a model of a glacier and its deposits using sand, small rocks, and ice cubes, then let the ice melt to see how material is left behind.
• Compare before-and-after images of valleys carved by glaciers, focusing on U-shaped valleys in Glacier National Park.

Discussion: How does the weight and movement of ice create these dramatic landforms? How does the fine rock flour (silt) from glaciers affect the color of glacial lakes?

Lesson 3: The Lewis Overthrust – Ancient Rocks on Top
Objective: Introduce students to the Lewis Overthrust and how it reveals some of the oldest rocks in North America.
Activity:

• Show students images of the Lewis Overthrust Fault and explain how older rocks were pushed on top of younger rocks due to tectonic forces.
• Use a stack of books to model how rock layers shift and slide over each other under pressure.
• Have students create a cross-section drawing of Glacier National Park’s geology, labeling the different rock layers and their estimated ages.
• Explore samples (or images) of Precambrian and Paleozoic rocks found in the park and discuss how they formed.

Discussion: Why is the Lewis Overthrust important to geologists? How does it help us understand the Earth’s past?

Lesson 4: The Impact of Glaciers – Then and Now
Objective: Understand how glaciers have shaped Glacier National Park and what their retreat means for the future.
Activity:

• Compare historic photos of glaciers in the park to modern images, noting changes over time.
• Discuss how climate change is affecting glacier size and movement.
• Have students create an illustrated timeline showing how a glacier advances, carves a valley, and eventually melts, leaving behind lakes, moraines, and U-shaped valleys.
• Brainstorm ways humans can help reduce the impact of climate change on glaciers and ecosystems.

Discussion: How would Glacier National Park look without glaciers? Why is it important to study these changes?