According to britannica.com:
Glacier National Park, established in 1910, encompasses 1,583 square miles (4,101 square km), a third of which is above the timberline. It is bordered to the west and southwest by the Flathead River and Flathead National Forest, to the southeast by Lewis and Clark National Forest, and to the east by the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Glacier-National-Park-Montana
But, why? Why is it where it is and why is it shaped the way it’s shaped?
The peaks here were formed by the same major tectonic events that shaped the rest of the Rocky Mountains, but the great tectonic collision caused a unique effect here. A great swath of very old sedimentary rocks were pushed sideways, rather than simply buckling up, and they slid somewhat smoothly over top of younger rocks. Therefore, layers in Glacier suffered much less deformation than often happens in mountain building, and today they offer some of the best preserved fossils of early life on Earth.
https://www.outdoorproject.com/united-states/montana/glacier-national-park
I learned a whole ton about its location when I listened to the Washington Post’s Field Trip podcast by Lillian Anderson. It seems the Blackfeet were pushed off the beautiful mountainous features of Montana’s western border. A lot of the Blackfeet tribe’s history and culture in the mountains of what is now Montana can be learned because Ed DesRosier fought to establish Sun Tours. The Blackfeet offer more tours of the Glacier and Yellowstone areas here and here. I’m curious to know more.
Scientist of the Day
Rosalyn LaPier is an ethnobotanist and writer and an enrolled member of the Blackfeet tribe in Montana and Metis.
“She is a traditionally trained ethnobotanist. She learned ethnobotany & traditional ecological knowledge by apprenticing with her maternal grandmother Annie Mad Plume Wall & her aunt Theresa Still Smoking for more than 20 years.”
https://www.rosalynlapier.com/about
Introduction to the topic
Take as much or as little time with this material as you’d like. Different videos are appropriate for different learners. Feel free to go down a rabbit hole in different directions than those I’ve anticipated!
Experiencing the Science
Build a model of a glacier: You need an ice cube tray, some modeling clay, some sand or dirt, and water.
Use a model to show how heat moves “continents” apart.
https://www.teachengineering.org/activities/view/cub_natdis_lesson02_activity2
Build a watershed to show how water that falls on the west side of the continental divide goes to the Pacific Ocean, while all the water that falls on the east side goes all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.
https://pbskids.org/plumlanding/educators/activities/build_a_watershed_ed.html