“Science Adventures” are short informational articles you can share with your kids! Read them aloud, look up words your kids don’t know, and dig deeper on topics that spark their interest at your local library or the internet. Today we’re learning about snowflakes!
Today was an awfully snowy day where I live, and it made me think about snow itself. What makes snow…well, snow? Why do snowflakes look the way they do?
What is snow?
Snow is frozen water. When it hits our skin or anything else that is warm, it melts and makes liquid water. On a warm day, water falls from the sky as rain. On a cold day, when temperatures are below the temperature at which water freezes (0 degrees Celsius and 32 degrees Fahrenheit), you can expect to see snow instead of rain.
How does snow form?
There are a lot of tiny things called particles in the sky. They can be from pollen, dust, smoke, and pollution. There is also water in the sky as well. When a very, very cold drop of water attaches to a particle and freezes, a snowflake can begin to form. First, it is a tiny ice crystal. Then, as it starts to fall, water vapor from the air also attaches to it and freezes into new crystals. These new crystals form the six “arms” of the snowflake. All snowflakes have six sides because of the way the water molecules bond together with other water molecules as they freeze into crystals.
Why are snowflakes each unique?
Every snowflake is different because each flake forms in slightly different ways. Even tiny differences in temperature can make flakes form differently, and the faster or slower a flake forms can make changes as well. Drier air makes flakes look different from wetter air. Each snowflake may look different, but each of the six arms of a single flake are identical, because they all formed under the same conditions.
Snow…Sleet…Hail…What’s the difference?
I’ve talked about snow, but what about sleet? Sleet forms when snow partially melts as it is falling, and then freezes again into a hard, clear pellet. This usually happens when it warms up a bit during a storm.
If the air gets warmer still, but is still wintery-cold outside, freezing rain can happen. This is when rain is still liquid water when it falls, but it freezes immediately when it hits the cold ground. Freezing rain can form a sheet of ice over roads and cars. This can be very dangerous for drivers.
Snow, sleet, and freezing rain all form in the winter. Hail is a bit different. Hail happens in the summertime usually during big thunderstorms. These storms form because of hot air and cold air mixing in the sky. Rain begins to fall, but it freezes when it hits a cold layer of air. The worse the storm is, the larger the hail pellets can be. Hail can range from tiny pellets up to softball sizes! It can cause a lot of damage to cars and houses. Thankfully, softball-size hail doesn’t usually happen in many places.
Do you like playing in the snow? Do you ever go out and look at the different shapes of the snowflakes? They can be very pretty, but make sure you wear mittens so your hands don’t get cold!
Do you have any ideas for a future Science Adventure? Is there something you’d like to learn more about? Contact Science Adventurer Mel!
