Let It Snow
Five Wintery Experiments for Your Budding Scientists
— by Jan Pierce
W
inter is a magical time
for children and you can
enhance their apprecia-
tion and understanding of the season by
conducting simple but serious science
investigations right in your own home.
Give your children a head start in mas-
tering basic scientific methods of study
by teaching them to investigate their
world through prediction,
observation, hypothesiz-
ing, estimating, and record-
ing their findings. Here
are five simple snowy
science
experiments
guaranteed to be both fun and
informative.
What Happens When
Water Freezes?
1. Fill an empty metal container to ½
inch from the top with water.
2. Use a permanent marker to mark
the water line on the outside of the
can.
3. Predict what will happen when the
water freezes.
4. Place the can on a tray or on alu-
minum foil and place in the freezer
overnight.
The Ice Cube Race
5. Observe the ice line the next morn-
ing and record the results.
*Water expands as it turns to ice. Use
the terms liquid and solid states. What
will happen when the ice melts back into
liquid state? 1. Place three ice cubes in identical
containers.
No Two Alike 3. Estimate the length of time it will
take for each ice cube to melt com-
pletely.
2. Leave one ice cube as it is, add salt
to the second, and sugar to the third
1. On a snowy day, catch falling
snowflakes on pieces of black
poster board.
4. Observe at one minute intervals
and record information.
2. Have a magnifying glass of at
least 10X strength ready to observe
the flakes. 5. Write a paragraph describing the
rate of melting for each of the three
cubes.
3. Observe individual flakes, taking
note of their structure. 6. Can you explain why one melted
faster?
4. Record your observations in draw-
ings. *Which would you use to melt the ice on
roadways, sugar or salt? Why?
5. How are the flakes alike? Differ-
ent? Make Your
Own Icicles
*A snowflake is a single snow
crystal of ice. The ba-
sic shape of a snow
crystal is a hexagonal
prism. Once the ba-
sic shape is formed,
branching builds ad-
ditional patterns. It’s
true that no two snowflakes
are alike.
1. Punch a hole in the bottom of a
can.
2. Punch three holes around the top of
the can.
3. Loop twine through the three holes
and hang the can outside on a day
when the temperature is 32 degrees
or less.
Books About Snow & Snowflakes
The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter’s Wonder by Mark Cassino. (for ages 3-8)
The Secret Life of a Snowflake: An Up-Close Look at the Art and Science of Snowflakes
by Kenneth Libbrecht. (for ages 6-12)
The Snowflake Winter’s Secret Beauty by Kenneth Libbrecht.
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
Snow by Cynthia Rylant
Snowflakes Fall by Patricia MacLachlan and Steven Kellogg
Snow is Falling (Let’s Read and Find Out Science Series) by Franklyn Branley
8 WNY Family February 2020