THE CASE OF THE FROZEN TREASURE

 

Precious metals, plants, animals, boxes, and even ships have all been found trapped in glaciers and polar ice, some for over thousands of years.  Digging down through the ice to find and get them out takes time and care so they are not damaged in the process.  And can you imagine how cold it must be to work out on a glacier, chipping the ice away from a 10,000 year old woolly mammoth or a 175 year old sailing vessel?  But how exciting too!  

 

Want to try your detective skills on some ice excavation?

 

For this doable you will need:

 

• 1 freezable container, such as a loaf pan

• About a dozen small waterproof items to freeze in the ice, such as toys, coins, pretty stones, large beads

• 1 small bowl of hot water and a small spoon OR a clean squeeze bottle containing water hot enough to melt ice but not hurt a child

• 1 smaller bowl of salt and a smaller spoon

• 1 small screwdriver to use as chisel

• 1 rock or toy hammer to use as mallet

• Tweezers (optional)

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First the adult (secretly) will make the block of ice by placing the waterproof items in the container and adding water to cover them.  Some of them will float and others sink.  The more water you add, the longer it will take to melt or chip away, something to be considered given the age and patience level of the child.

 

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Freeze the container of water at least overnight, and remove it just before you want to initiate the activity.

 

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Loosen the block of ice from the container by running hot water along its outside sides and bottom.  Then tip the block out upside down on to a tray or into a larger container that you have lined with newspaper or paper towels to collect the melting ice water.

 

 

 

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The child can then go to work chipping away the ice from the items encased in it, or melting the ice away from them using sprinkled salt and/or hot water spooned over them.

 

Rinse the items after they have been dug out because they may have salt on them.

 

What treasure have you found?!

 

 

Note: Why does salt melt ice faster?  It’s because the salt lowers the freezing point of the water – the water would need to be colder than usual to freeze and therefore it melts. The more salt, the faster the thaw.  That’s why we salt roads and sidewalks in the winter: to melt the snow and ice on them faster and keep it from accumulating.

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