What's
the Matter with My Snow?
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What's
the Matter with My Snow? |
| I chose this inquiry mainly because it takes kids outdoors in the middle of winter. Knowing that we were going outside and doing an activity with snow hooked the students right away. This inquiry focused on density and phase change, which are concepts we just explored with the Jell-O inquiry. This seemed an easy way to reinforce what we had learned. A final reason I chose this activity is because it dealt with the water cycle. I teach fifth grade, and some sixth grade teachers have told me that their students are unfamiliar with the water cycle. Even though it's not "really" part of my science curriculum, I feel it is important for intermediate level students to have an understanding of the water cycle. This was another (SFO) inquiry that was great for a teacher's budget. I had students bring in 12-ounce juice concentrate containers. I discovered that the Welch's brand containers are plastic, so I am saving them to reuse with future students. I also liked that this activity gave students a more concrete understanding of density. Students were able to compare the density of snow (0.1-0.9 g/ml) to the density of water (1 g/ml). I think most students can refer to a past experience with making snowballs, and they can understand how the amount of moisture affects the density of snow. Another thing I liked was that this inquiry was not overly time consuming and did not take a lot of preparation of materials. While explaining that water is the unit on which density is based, I would have students reinforce this idea by measuring the mass of water using various containers. Since water's density is 1 g/ml, then the mass of the water will always equal the volume of its container. I think this might help students grasp the ratio of 1 g/ml. As an extension activity, I wonder if students could add water to their snow to change its density? If the original snow fell under the category of dry and fluffy with low density, students could add water to create great packing snow or wet, slushy snow. As part of language arts, I read aloud the book Snowflake Bentley. After reading, I showed students a website with examples of Bentley's photographs. Then I assigned students different questions about snow. Using various websites, students researched and answered their assigned questions. They typed their findings, drew snow pictures with chalk, and we bound everyone's product into a book called Snow. The book is now part of our nonfiction book collection. If I were to do this activity again, I would have students come up with their own questions about snow instead of assigning them. I recommend this inquiry to any teacher because it uses science to explain something as common as snow. I think students will be reminded of density and the water cycle whenever they get in a snowball fight! Veronica Rodriguez Thanks for your feedback, Veronica. I've added your recommended website to the Related Resources page. John Farmer This is a concrete way to teach the concept of density. I particularly liked that the kids threw snowballs to predict snow moisture prior to calculating the density... We tested two consecutive snowfalls, and the kids were delighted to see that the second snowfall was truly more moist than the first, since their snowballs had held together better. It was interesting how dry both snowfalls were, however. I did not have orange juice cans. We used one graduated plastic cup per group, and leveled the tops off with flat-edged rulers. Since the cups were not measured to the rim, the kids had to add water by increments to an empty cup to figure its total volume. This activity reinforced the idea of controlling variables. We discussed where each group would choose to get its snow--where the sixth graders stood in line in the morning? From under the pine tree? Was a drift in the garden or a smooth place in the grassy area more consistent? What if there were gaps in the cup when the snow was put in? Was it fairer to dump out the cup and start again, or to just add a little more? The concept really seemed to kick in with some of the kids when they realized it didn't matter if the snow melted in the cup after we returned to the room.... The amount of matter in the cup was the same as before the snow melted. Sheryl Melvin I chose this inquiry to extend the concept of matter changing state for first graders who had previously studied the states of matter. The lesson was expanded and modified to help students explore chemical and physical changes, the states of matter, atomic configuration of solids, liquids, gasses, and how heat changes matter. Students explored the water cycle using observation, measurement tools, data collection and comparison, singing, and role play. First graders were able to grasp these concepts through multiple exposure and practice. They felt a sense of adventure when they were able to collect their own samples of snow. The inquiry generated new questions to explore. Carol Ogden This inquiry reinforces the concept of density and uses it in a "real-world" application. I really liked the ease of this assignment. It was straight-forward and reinforced a topic that is frequently used in science. The students really enjoyed it. It helped those who were struggling to understand density. Just seeing the equation or writing the equation for density doesn't teach the concept! I used the 250ml beakers instead of the juice cans. I had them readily available. We also did this again this week because we had more snow. This reinforced that depending on the conditions, snow density can vary. The BrainPop and snow websites were very useful. I used the snow web sites to make a tranparency of the different crystal formations of snow. The kids really loved that! We discussed how the snow is formed. With all of the snow this year (2003), it was a great lesson and the kids loved it. Next year, I'd like to keep a density log of snow fall and tie it in with a weather unit in my Earth/Space class. Beth Brown I chose this inquiry for obvious reasons. Not only do my students get excited by snow, most of them talk about it as if they've never really thought about it at all. After looking over the inquiry itself, it appeared to be a simple, yet fun way to deal with density. I really liked the ease of this particular inquiry. It is set up so simple that any student is capable of fully understanding the lesson. Plus, what teacher doesn't love the opportunity to have another outdoor lesson even when it's a bit chilly outside. The kids also loved that they could "test" their hypothesis of the snows density by making snowballs. We even did some impromptu learning on projectile motion, speed and velocity. This inquiry is simple enough that it can be completed in a matter of minutes once the initial introduction has been explained. I would have students test the snow the first day it fell, then retest it each day (if no more snow falls) to see how much its density changes. Another possible extension would be to record the density of each snowfall over the course of a month and compare the collected data. We've been covering taxes and the responsibilities of local governments in my Social Studies classes. We've tied our Snow inquiry into the salting and snow removal from public streets. The students have held some good discussions about how much it costs to clear the roads and the work that goes into it. This is an exciting opportunity for students to break from the dull and dreary days of weather and get out into the learning of a natural classroom. I even suggested a snowball fight between the students. On second hand, that's not a good idea. Joe Ohradzansky I chose this inquiry because my class just finished a unit on physical and chemical changes. Another reason I chose this lesson is because we have plenty of snow in Cincinnati and I thought it would be fun to take my students outside to play in the snow. This lesson also leads into the water cycle unit that I will teach next. The part that I enjoyed the most was the beginning of the lesson when my students had to throw the snowballs and make their hypothesis about the density of the snow. This was great because it was a hands-on way to for my students to actually feel the snow to see the differences in the density. I didn't change anything about the inquiry. I broke the definitions down such as matter, mass and density, so that the students could relate these terms to everyday life. We also used dictionaries to look up the words. The dictionaries were the only extra resources I utilized. Overall, this was a wonderful lesson. The lesson plan was easy to follow and the objectives met the Ohio Proficiency standards, which is very important. Most importantly, this was a great learning experience for my students and they understood the concepts that were being taught. Gena Bosley I chose this activity because we had just received our first big snow of the winter and John reminded us about this inquiry. I liked this activity because the students enjoyed being out in the snow, the activity was easy for my students to follow, and they were interested in doing a follow-up activity with the next snowfall to compare the density results. The only thing I would change with this activity is our winter weather. We waited for the next snow that did not occur! I used this activity to tie in with the next inquiry lesson we worked on, The Water Cycle. The students were able to see the connection with the snow and precipitation in the water cycle. There was a high interest level in this activity. We had a day off from school because of this snow! The students were disappointed in the density of the snow. They knew that the snow was good packing snow when it first fell. If we could have tested the density on the first day of the snow, we would have had different results. Sherie Davis I chose this inquiry because we had snow last week and I wanted to see how everything would go before I tried one of the longer SFO inquiries. I liked this inquiry because it used a substance that kids see every year, not something foreign to them like sulfuric acid. I also liked how the Thinksheet led them through the activity. This limited the questions somewhat so I wasn't running around the classroom as much. The only thing I would change (if I knew how) would be that my students had a hard time understanding the correlation between the cubic centimeter = 1 milliliter = 1 gram, to the lesson on density. Raymond Friend
Thanks for your feedback. To help them make the connection between cm3, ml, and gram I usually borrow a base ten unit cube from the math teacher like the one pictured on the Thinksheet. During the lesson I hold it up to show them how small it is and explain the following:
John Farmer What a great way
to get students outside on a snowy day and learn about density at the
same time! The answer lines on the Thinksheet hypothesis statement need to be longer so the kids can write in the labels g/ml after their numbers. They need the practice writing the correct labels. (will be ___________ to ___________ (range of 0.2 g/ml) We used a large beaker and a small beaker instead of the juice cans. (I hadn't anticipated doing this until January!). But the students noted that there seemed to be more accurate results using the big beaker. Also, when the snow melted completely it was easy to see that the ratio of snow to rain is approximately 10:1 using the little beakers. My students had lots of fun doing this. They raised a lot of questions including the difference 1,2, or 3 days old snow would make. The BrainPop movie on density wouldn't work the day I wanted to show it but we will try again as a review. They want to do the measuring again next snowfall, and we probably will - it's good science process! Linda Sebastian Thanks for the helpful feedback. I have adjusted the Thinksheet to allow more room for writing the units. John Farmer |