4. Time to experiment to test your hypothesis! Join another student pair to form a group of four. Remove both pairs’ permafrost samples from the freezer and record the temperature of both samples as described above.
Now, on one permafrost sample, press about an inch of dry, room-temperature dirt on top of the frozen dirt to simulate the active layer. Leave the other sample as is.
Record the temperature of both samples every 30 seconds for 5 to 10 minutes. Record your data in the table below.
Time (seconds)
Temperature of permafrost with active layer (ºF)
Temperature of permafrost without active layer (ºF)