Nature Net News
January
2006
The Wisconsin Ice Age
"Water is the driving force of all nature."
Leonardo Da Vinci
Dear Reader, If a snow and ice-covered Wisconsin field doesn’t stir your imagination, there’s nothing like a visit to Madison’s Geology Museum to give you a sense of what life was like back in the Ice Age! It's amazing to consider the geological forces that made the Wisconsin we know today. And in Dane County, we have a special treat – 10,000 years later, we can see where glaciers plowed the land flat (glaciated) in eastern Dane County and the rocky, hilly terrain in western Dane County where the last glacier never touched (unglaciated). Take a look at this month’s offerings to turn yourself and your family into real time travelers! Kathe & Betsy |
The most recent time of widespread glaciation - or Ice Age - was named after our state? During the Wisconsinan Ice Age, glaciers advance as far south as, you guessed it, Wisconsin. These great ice sheets began to melt (recede) 12,000-10,000 years ago!
What to
Do This Month:
Hike a section of the Ice
Age Trail.
Experiment: how fast does water freeze outside? - fill several same-size cups and place them in varied locations. Try it on different days.
Find out more about the Great Ice Age from NOVA's "Big Chill"
Check out family events at area Nature Net sites!
Tricks of the Trail for
Parents:
Dress Up & Get Out
It’s not difficult to keep
kids warm during our own "mini ice age" if you remember this D.E.A.L.
--
Dress – Dress in layers to conserve body heat and add protection
from the wind. And always wear a hat.
Children’s long-john pjs can serve as a cozy first layer
underneath trousers. Consider
a final outer layer of nylon to keep wind out and the warmth in.
If store shelves are empty, consider second-hand stores or athletic
apparel. And don’t forget sunglasses for those bright wintry days.
Exercise – Nothing warms up fingers and toes like the Countdown
Game. See Eco-Exercise
(12/05) for examples of digit- and limb-warming
activities.
Attitude – You think you’re cold?
Think about how early peoples coped with the bitter cold.
Laugh – Nothing gets the heart pumping faster and warms up the
spirit than a good laugh.
Instant Outdoor Expert:
Glacial Formation Station
Wisconsin is home to a variety of geologic landforms formed by the
last glaciation, including moraines, drumlins and erratics. Sound foreign?
You likely live near or drive by one of these formations regularly -
particularly if you live in Dane County.
Because glaciers act as giant (mile-high) bulldozers, picking up sand and
rocks and smoothing crags and peaks, the landscape - once the glaciers
retreat - are left in an altered state. When the
"bulldozer" dumps off its major load - where it stopped just
prior to melting - it leaves a moraine. If you've ever driven
west on Madison's Mineral Point Road (Cnty S), between Middleton and Pine
Bluff, you've driven over a moraine!
A drumlin, on the other hand is formed not by the material carried
and dumped by the glacier, but by the smoothing and shaping force of the
glacier. Drumlins are teardrop-shaped hills sculpted in the direction
of the ice movement (from the north-east in our case). Interstate highway 94 between Madison and Sussex, crosses one of the largest drumlin
swarms
(groupings) in the world.
Bascom Hill (UW- Madison) is a drumlin; and the State Capitol
building is situated on a drumlin.
Erratics are huge boulders often carried for miles by the
glacier and "dropped" in a new location upon the glacier's
retreat. Many an immigrant farmer hauled heavy granite erratic
boulders from their fields to make plowing and planting seed possible. A
huge erratic boulder rests atop Madison's Observatory Drive. Once
you reach the hill-top, turn away from the lake view to spot it.
For a state-wide view of formations left by the glacier, see the Glacial Deposits Map created by the Wisconsin Geologic and Natural History Survey.
And find out more from the National Parks Service's Ice Age National Scientific Preserve.
Eco-Exercise:
Woolly Walk
Energy
and exercise were critical to survival during the Ice Age.
Pretend you’re a Woolly Mammoth lumbering across the frozen
terrain – stretch your body and arms forward to make tusks, now imagine
lifting and carrying your massive trunk.
Looking for a faster activity?
Sprint across the snow like a saber tooth tiger and pounce!
For a
list of other Ice Age animals to imitate, visit the Illinois State
Museum's Midwest U.S. 16,000 Years Ago.
Featured Nature Net Site
Nature Craft
UW
Geology Museum
Take a peek into Wisconsin's deep history
at the Geology Museum on the UW – Madison campus. During a visit,
you can touch rocks from a time when there were volcanoes in Wisconsin;
see corals, jellyfish and other sea creatures that used to live and swim
where we now walk; and stand under the tusks of a mastodon while imagining
yourself in the Ice Age!
During the close of the last Ice Age (10,000 – 12,000 BP), there were many kinds of large animals living in Wisconsin that are now extinct. At the Geology Museum you can see the lower jaw from a bear-sized beaver, teeth from mastodons and mammoths and a mastodon skeleton that was found here in Wisconsin. When these animals were alive Wisconsin was much cooler than it is today.
The Geology Museum is free and open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:30 – 4:30 and on Saturdays from 9 – 1.
Ice
Lantern
Celebrate Wisconsin
winters and the thick sheet of ice that once covered our State with this
icy lantern. It may be as cold as ice, but it's guaranteed to cast a warm, welcoming light on a winter night.
Start by pouring a couple inches of water into
a large metal mixing bowl. Place it outdoors to freeze.
Fill a yogurt container with stones or pennies, then center it on the ice in the bowl. Slowly pour more water into the bowl, so that it nearly reaches the rim of the smaller container, and let it freeze solid.
To remove the lantern from its mold, run warm water on the outside of the bowl and the ice should slip out. Next, dump out the contents of the inner container and pour in warm water to loosen it. Remove the container and place a votive candle in the opening.
Originally published in Family Fun magazine.
Suggested Reading:"A Woolly Mammoth Journey" by Debbie S. Miller (ages 4-8)
"Eyr the Hunter: A Story of Ice-Age America" by Margaret Zehmer Searcy (ages 4-8)
"Glaciers" by Roy A. Gallant (Ages 9-12)
"Ice Age Sabertooth: The Most Ferocious Cat That Ever Lived" by Barbara Hehner (ages 9-12)
"Adventures in the Ice Age (Good Times Travel Agency)" by Linda Bailey (ages 9-12)
