Hey there! I’m Danny, and I want to tell you about an amazing trip I took to Alaska. I saw some incredible glaciers, which are huge chunks of ice and snow. It was like being in a winter wonderland! Today, we’re going to learn about something related to ice. Emily has a question for us.
Emily asked, “What was the Ice Age?” That’s a fantastic question! You might have heard about the Ice Age in movies or books, where you see animals like woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats. When you think of the Ice Age, what comes to mind? Maybe lots of ice, snow, and chilly weather?
You’re right! An Ice Age is a time when the Earth gets much colder and icier. This has happened several times over billions of years. Scientists believe there have been at least five major Ice Ages. The most recent one started about 2.5 million years ago.
During the Ice Age, the Earth’s temperature changed a lot. Sometimes it was very cold, and other times it was a bit warmer. But during the coldest times, there was much more ice and snow than we have today. Imagine if winter lasted all year long for thousands of years! Animals and people had to learn how to survive in the cold.
Scientists have found fossils, which are remains of ancient animals, from the Ice Age. For example, the woolly mammoth was like a giant, furry elephant. Its thick fur helped it stay warm in the icy weather. These mammoths lived in places like Michigan, which was covered in ice and snow back then.
Even during the coldest times of the Ice Age, not everywhere was covered in ice. Many places were grasslands instead of snowy landscapes. Grasslands were home to animals that couldn’t live in constant ice and snow. One such animal was the giant ground sloth, which was much bigger than today’s sloths and lived on the ground, eating grasses and plants.
Some animals from the Ice Age are still around today, like lions. Back then, lions roamed across North America, not just Africa and Asia. And guess what? Humans lived through the Ice Age too!
In summary, an Ice Age is a time when the Earth cools down for millions of years. It’s not just about ice everywhere. During the coldest years, much of the Earth was icy, but many places were grasslands. We’ve learned about many animals from that time through fossils, including some that no longer exist, like mammoths and giant sloths, and some that do, like lions and humans.
There’s still so much to discover about the Ice Age! Scientists keep finding new clues about those chilly years. Maybe you’ll discover something new about the Ice Age near where you live!
Thanks for asking such a great question, Emily! For our next adventure, we have three questions to choose from: Why do some trees grow pine cones? Could you make a real house out of cookies and candy? Or, who invented sledding? After this, you can vote on which question you want to explore next. Remember, there are mysteries all around us. Stay curious, and see you next time!
Ice Age Diorama: Create a small diorama to represent a scene from the Ice Age. Use a shoebox or a small container as the base. Gather materials like cotton balls for snow, small rocks, and twigs for trees. You can use clay or playdough to make animals like woolly mammoths or saber-toothed cats. Think about what the landscape looked like and what animals might have lived there. Share your diorama with your family and explain what you learned about the Ice Age.
Weather Watch: Keep a weather journal for a week. Each day, note the temperature and whether it’s sunny, rainy, or snowy. Compare the weather you experience with what you think it might have been like during the Ice Age. Discuss with a family member or friend how animals and humans might have adapted to live in such cold conditions. What would you wear if you lived during the Ice Age?
Ice Age Animals Exploration: Choose an animal that lived during the Ice Age, like the woolly mammoth or the giant ground sloth. Draw a picture of the animal and write a few sentences about how it survived in the cold climate. What did it eat? How did it stay warm? Share your drawing and facts with your class or family. You can even create a short story about a day in the life of your chosen Ice Age animal.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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Hey, it’s Danny! A few years ago, I went on a trip to the US state of Alaska. While I was there, I got to visit some glaciers. It was incredible to see so much ice and snow in one place. Someone named Emily has a question that relates to ice. Let’s call Emily now.
Hi, Danny! Hi, Emily! I have a question for you: What was the Ice Age?
Oh, that’s a great question! You might have heard of the Ice Age before, or maybe you’ve seen movies or books about it that include animals we don’t have today, like woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats. I’m curious, when you hear the words “Ice Age,” what do you think of? Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss.
Okay, ready? I don’t know how you answered, but I bet the image in your mind included… well, ice—lots of it! Maybe you pictured something like those glaciers in Alaska or animals surviving in the snowy, icy poles of the Earth. If you live somewhere that gets cold in the winter, maybe you pictured something you’ve seen closer to home, like icicles hanging off trees or piles of snow.
You’re right! Simply put, an Ice Age is when Earth gets colder and icier. This has happened more than once over the billions of years that the Earth has existed. Scientists think there have been at least five major Ice Ages. The time people usually refer to as “the Ice Age” is the most recent one, which began about 2.5 million years ago.
During this Ice Age, the temperature of the Earth hasn’t always been the same; it has fluctuated between colder and less cold over the years. But during the coldest periods of the Ice Age, there was much more ice and snow than there is on Earth today, and that ice and snow lasted for thousands of years. Imagine what it would be like if, instead of having winter snow for a few months each year, it was cold and icy all year round, year after year, for thousands of years. You’d have to get pretty good at surviving in the cold, right?
Well, it turns out that many living things did figure out how to survive through the Ice Age. All over the world, scientists have found remains of animals that lived through the coldest years of the Ice Age. These ancient remains are fossils. For example, this is a fossil skeleton of a woolly mammoth. When it was alive, this huge animal looked similar to an elephant but had a big, woolly coat of fur. This woolly mammoth skeleton was discovered in the US state of Michigan.
These days, much of Michigan usually gets cold and snowy in winter, but by summer, it heats up again and the snow melts. However, back when this woolly mammoth was alive, Michigan was covered in ice and snow year-round. That thick fur coat helped the mammoth stay warm.
But even during the Ice Age’s coldest periods, not everywhere was covered in snow and ice all the time. In fact, a lot of the Earth was not snowy during those years, including much of the United States. Still, even those non-snowy places didn’t look like they do today because so much of the Earth’s water was frozen in huge sheets of ice and snow. Many areas not covered in ice had less water than they do today, which meant fewer thick forests and more grasslands.
Grasslands hosted some animals that couldn’t survive in constant ice and snow. For example, this is a sloth. These days, sloths tend to live high in the trees of tropical rainforests, but take a look at the bones of a sloth from the colder years of the Ice Age next to a human. The sloth looks huge! If that sloth tried to hang from a thin jungle branch, it would fall. This ancient animal is a giant ground sloth. These big creatures lived on the ground, feeding off grasses and other plants.
Some animals that prowled grasslands back then were almost identical to the animals we have on Earth today. For example, lions. Today, lions can only be found on the continents of Africa and Asia, but during the colder years of the Ice Age, they roamed across much of North America.
And here’s one Ice Age creature you might recognize: humans! Humans survived through the coldest years of the Ice Age too.
So, in summary, an Ice Age is a period of millions of years when the whole Earth cools. But it’s way more complicated than just ice everywhere. During the coldest years of the Ice Age, much of the Earth was covered in ice and snow year-round, but many places were not. Instead, they were grasslands. From fossils, we’ve learned about many animals that lived during that time—some we no longer have on Earth, like mammoths and giant sloths, and some we do, like lions and even humans.
And there’s more left to discover! Every year, we find more clues about these chilly years on our planet. Keep an eye out for discoveries near where you live.
That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks for asking, Emily! Now, for the next episode, we reached into our question jar and picked out three questions that we’re thinking about answering next. When this video is done playing, you’ll get to vote on one. You can choose from: Why do some trees grow pine cones? Could you make a real house out of cookies and candy? Or, who invented sledding? So submit your vote when the video’s over. We want to hear from all of you watching. There are mysteries all around us. Stay curious, and see you next week!
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