THE HISTORY CHANNEL® PRESENTS: Little Ice Age: Big Chill

The below is a synopsis of the History channels documentary. the following link allows you to buy it and watch the documentary. Very worthwhile. Aivars Lode

 http://www.amazon.com/History-Sunday-Little-Ice-Age/dp/B001CUB97U



THE HISTORY CHANNEL® PRESENTS:
Little Ice Age: Big Chill
An Original Documentary
Spanning over 500 years and killing countless humans and animals, the Little Ice Age
took over the Earth and the livelihood of all those who inhabit it. Despite its duration and
magnitude, humans living through the Little Ice Age did not known much about it and
some did not know that it existed. Research has been undertaken by environmental
change specialists and different scientists around the world to study this natural
phenomenon. The need to understand the Little Ice Age is important in being able to
prepare and predict future weather patterns and their effect on society. From the frozen
New York Harbor, to icy waters in Scotland to widespread famine and disease, the Little
Ice Age played a mysterious, yet large role in significant changes in weather patterns
throughout many centuries. In this program, The History Channel® will decipher fact
from fiction and reveal all there is to know about the Little Ice Age.
Little Ice Age: Big Chill reveals all traits of the Little Ice Age – its scientific properties,
its natural causes, the people it affected and specific examples of areas it decimated.
However, not everything from the Little Ice Age was a total disaster. Did you know that
as a result of the Little Ice Age, better violins were invented and that Americans actually
drink 11 times more beer than they do wine? Utilizing specific scientific evidence,
extensive research, on- location explanatio ns, expert interviews, historical facts, and first
hand accounts of triumphs and tragedies, Little Ice Age: Big Chill explorers all facets of
one of the greatest scientific phenomenons in recent history.
Curriculum Links
Little Ice Age: Big Chill would be an excellent addition to any middle school or high
school class on American History, European History, World History, Environmental
Studies, the History of Agriculture and Science and Technology. It fulfills the following
standards as outlined by the National Council for History Education: (1) Civilization,
cultural diffusion, and innovation and (2) Human interaction with the environme nt.
Footnotes to History
WERE YOU AWARE that at one point during the Little Ice Age, Iceland’s population
reached a one thousand year low when it was at just half of its highest ever population?
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Vocabulary
Using the dictionary at www.merriamwebster.com, an internet resource such as
www.history.com, or an encyclopedia, students should define or explain the significance
of the following terms:
Antonio Stradivari
Apogee
Comely
Ebb
Favonian
General George Washington
Napoleon Bonaparte
Sere
Sonorous
Sprightly
Stagnant
Wooly Mammoth
Comprehension Questions
1. What was the Little Ice Age? When did begin? For how many centuries did it
continue? When was it at its strongest (coldest)?
2. What was the average change in global temperature due to the Little Ice Age?
How can this global average be deceiving? **For Class Discussion ? Does this
example of minor temperature change make you more or less worried about the
possibility of global warming today?
3. How do scientists use the ocean in order to record data on specific temperature
ranges from the Little Ice Age?
4. What are some of the characteristics of the Medieval Warming Period? Was this
a good period or bad period for those who relied on farming and crop production?
5. What were the consequences of almost five years of straight rain starting in
Europe in 1315? Is grain vulnerable to heavy rains? If so, why?
6. What are the properties of the Oceanic Conveyor Belt and Thermohaline
Circulation? Would the world be better off without the conveyor belt? What
purpose does it serve?
7. How were the Vikings in Greenland affected by the Little Ice Age? How did they
cope with the colder climate? What could they have learned from the native tribe,
the Inuits, on Greenland?
8. What is the Maunder Minimum? Why is it relevant and imperative to
understanding the Little Ice Age?
9. What happened to Napoleon Bonaparte’s troops beginning in the fall of 1812?
Where were the troops? What were they doing?
10. What happened in the summer of 1816? What is that summer commonly
nicknamed by historians? What evidence, besides the freezing cold in the United
States, is there of the Little Ice Age?
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11. What are some theories that explain the end of the Little Ice Age? Pick the theory
you think is correct and elaborate on your answer in a one-page response. Be sure
to answer why you picked this theory? What has led you to agree with the
scientific evidence supporting it?
12. Do you believe that the potential conflicts resulting from global climate change
(theorized in the end of the documentary) could actually happen? Explain.
Extended Activities
1. Understanding the Ocean Conveyer Belt
The Ocean Conveyor Belt is explained briefly in the program, but there is no way
to get a detailed understanding of the concept without obtaining further
information. On your own, using an online search engine, such as
www.google.com or an encyclopedia, look up how the Oceanic Conveyor Belt
functions. Write a well- written 3-page paper on your findings. Be sure to
research a unique aspect of the natural process in order to be specific in your
paper.
2. Art, Writing and Research
There are multiple cases when the Little Ice Age causes something very unusual
to happen like when Eskimos kayaked to Scotland or when the New York Harbor
froze over and people could walk from Staten Island to Manhattan over a century
ago. Pick a specific phenomenon either from Little Ice Age: Big Chill or one that
you have found on your own and sketch a detailed picture of the scene. Then,
attach a well- written one-page summary explaining the situation depicted in your
artwork.
3. The Weather and the Military
This History Channel® documentary shows us the impact the weather has had
on military undertakings from Napoleon’s European conquest to the English
battle with the Spanish Armada to George Washington’s heroic crossing of the
Hudson on Christmas Eve. In groups of 3-5, pick a military battle or engagement
from the documentary or find one on your own using an internet search engine.
In a presentation to your class, summarize your selected battle and discuss how
the weather and other natural phenomenons affected the course of the battle and/
or the overall war.
Additional Resources
Internet
Resources from Ocean & Climate Change Institute:
http://www.whoi.edu/institutes/occi/currenttopics/ct_abruptclimate.htm
Global Climate Change Information from the University of California at San Diego:
http://calspace.ucsd.edu/virtualmuseum/
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Report from Harvard University on the effect of the Little Ice Age on New England’s
Vegetation: http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/data/p07/hf078/hf078.html
Books
Fagan, Brian M. The Little Ice Age: How Climate Made History, 1300-1850. Basic
Books, 2001. **Note that Dr. Fagan is consistently interview throughout Little
Ice Age: Big Chill.
Fagan, Brian M. The Long Summer: How Climate Changed Civilization. Basic Books,
2003.
Seaton, Maureen. Little Ice Age. Invisible Cities Press, 2001.