snow and ice and snow and ice

 We are continuing our snow and ice exploration, which is timely!  How fun to have snow to play in. 

( I have taken individual photos for a PROJECT that we've been working on!) 

We brough snow into the classroom and used watercolors to create a colorful snowbank. 

AND ice and baking soda, colors and white vinegar ......

and the next day? 

looking underneath, we found colored water.  

We've been reading a very good book called Ice Boy by David Ezra Stein, that moves comically through the states of water as an ice cube moves out of the freezer, becomes a wave of water, then water vapor, then ice again and back to melt in a glass of water. 

Crystals, and ice, and solids and liquids, and vapors,  melting and freezing, it's all science! 

Until Next Time,

Michele

Snowflake Studies

We have been studying snowflakes and crystals for the past few days, and the science is fascinating!  Our science table has "make a snowflake" options with loose parts, which encourages the children to create patterns and pictures with different shapes on a hexagon.  We have learned that snowflakes often start as a hexagon shape, and we are trying to remember the hexagon shape. 

Our block buildings look a lot like crystals! 

We have been creating snowflake shapes with paint, stencils, foam snowflake shapes to paint, and potato mashers! The intricacy of the shapes is fascinating.  

Snowflakes are chemistry! We have tried using a kit to make crystals, and we have tried a borax solution to make crystals as well.  

With pipe cleaner shapes suspended in a solution, we are hoping to create crystals.  If not, we will chalk it up to experimentation and try again! We will know tomorrow if there are crystals formed. 

And, SURPRISE! we had a snow shower that cause just enough snowflakes to fall for us to look closely at them, taste them, roll in them, and feel them fall down our necks.  We had to run right outside as soon as we arrived, but it was well worth it.  

Until Next Time,

Michele