Finding a covering of the season’s first snow on their car, my 3-year-old neighbor helpfully suggested, “Use that tool, that small brush,” to her father. Was she recalling last winter? It is possible that she had seen the snow brush/scraper in recent months in the back of the car. But how did she know it was for the snow?
What kinds of scientific inquiry activities do you do with snow in your class?
Peggy
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Here’s a scientific inquiry about snow that was recently shared on the NSTA Elementary list (http://www.nsta.org/membership/listserver.aspx?lid=tnav#introduction) by former upper elementary, now middle-school teacher, Nora McDevitt, of Youngstown, OH. (NSTA members can sign up for these group e-mail discussions that allow members to exchange information in a peer-to-peer forum. The lists are great places to hear about activities that can be adapted to be appropriate for younger age children.) Nora says, “I thought I’d pass along an activity I do with snow, especially the day after a big one, as is predicted for tomorrow. I have three large plastic containers (with lids) that pretzels came in. In the morning after the snow, I either take my class outdoors or send a couple volunteers outside to fill the containers with snow. We take the containers inside, weigh, measure, and record what we observe. I then ask the kids, “If we keep the lids on the three containers, what do you expect to happen to the weight of the container as the snow melts?” They have to explain their reasoning and support their arguments with what they know. I guide them to tell the class whether they expect the container to either weigh more, the same or less. If they expect the container to change weight, I ask, “Will it gain (or lose) weight evenly or with there be spikes?” We usually have good discussions with the classes. Before I did this, I thought the question was a no brainer. Amazingly, many predicted wrong. We charted the volume and weight each hour over the school day and the next day when everything was melted. I don’t tell them but lead them to explain the “Why?” We also marked the height of the snow and predicted what the height would be when the snow melted. We weighed the snow (before and after melting) because they don’t really believe when we tell them the weight won’t change. They just believe when they see it. As a follow up, we repeated the test when a couple of days later when we had a thaw. This time I ask them to predict the volume of water that will result when the snow melts. Do they expect the level of water to be the same as the first time (fluffy snow), or different? I make sure the original marks on the three containers are left on. The children usually find that the volume of water is more (melting snow is heavier and denser). They have to explain why the volume of water from the two kinds of snow was different. I like this lesson because it’s “quick and dirty” and gets them thinking.”