You didn’t know that snow could be used for math exercises, did you? Our regular blogger, Joanne give us some tips on how to have fun with snow.
By Joanne Arcand
Around our house, snow comes with a mixed set of emotions. As the youngest says; “winter is uncomfortable”. The sweater, the coat, the snow pants, the gloves seem to take half the day to put on and take off. Once you’re done making the snow forts, snowmen, and snow angels the snow tends to lose its appeal. Fear not, kind reader, the math geek in me kind finds the lessons in even trampled on snow.
Here are five cool things to do with snow
Preserve the snow on slides and look at them under a microscope:
- Put some microscope slides in the freezer overnight.
- When the snow starts falling, take the slides out of the freezer and spray hairspray on one side of the slide.
- Catch a snowflake on the slide. It will stick to the hairspray. Leave the slide in a cold place for a couple of hours (don’t let more snow fall on it)
- After two hours, the water in the snowflake will be gone, but the imprint of the snowflake will remain. Take it inside and use a microscope to look at those lovely fractal shapes!
Make a mini snowman, place him in a bowl and bring him inside to melt. Estimate how much water he will make…then find out how close you were.
The bonus: mini snowman makes an excellent timer for mom’s bubble bath - no disturbing me until frosty melts!
Make snow ice cream. Combine:
- 1 cup Cream (Half & Half)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- dash of salt with
- 5 cups of fresh, clean snow
(Yummy with a touch of chocolate sauce or on top of fruit)
Make snowflake pictures: Mix borax, alum, sea salt, or lite sugar with water and use Qtips to paint snowflake patterns on black construction paper. Use a magnifying glass to look at the crystals made.
Have a speed melting race. Use road salt, rubbing alcohol, sugar, or bleach to speed up the melting. Which works the fastest?
Got any more ideas for snow? Use the comment form below to let us know!
