FIAR: Snow experiments to go with Katy & The Big Snow, Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening

Inspired by Snowflake Bentley, we took a microscope and observed the intricacies of a snowflake. Wow. Simply amazing!

We made pipe cleaner snowflakes covered with Borax crystals. Learn how here: http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howtos/ht/boraxsnowflake.htm

Why can I see my breath when it is cold? We did an experiment to answer this question.

BALLOON EXPERIMENT

We conducted an experiment with balloons. First, we blew them up and measured them inside. Then we tied them to the deck outside and measured them again once they had cooled out there for one-half hour. We measured them again in the morning. The balloons decreased by one inch in circumference when we placed them outside, and there was no change from the first time we measured outside to the second time.

MELTING AND FREEZING

We filled up a mason jar with snow and then let it melt. There was so much less water than there was snow! Next we placed a jar of water in the freezer, marking the height. (The weather didn't cooperate with us to just place it outside.) When we took it out later the height was higher! The ice took up more space than the water did.

WHAT ARE THE STATES OF MATTER?
And, what's study of winter without Olaf?  He helped us learn more about different types of matter in a little flip book.

WHAT MELTS FASTER?

We also investigated what substances ice will melt faster in. We filled bowls with sugar, salt, dirt and pepper. The dirt and pepper insulated the ice, so it stayed cold longer. And the ice in the salt melted faster. Why? "Because it lowered the freezing temperature!" explains The Girl. And that's why we use salt and sand on our roads in the winter.

 

The Boy just wanted to mix up dirt and water! And everything else!

And our perpetual favorite experiment: Volcano in the Snow!

We made a weather wheel, and also a paper compass.

I often write something out on the chalkboard and The Girl copies it in her workbook.

FIAR: Learning about our neighborhood during 'Katy'

As part of our unit on Katy and the Big Snow, we focused on what makes up our neighborhood.

I think the kiddos' favorite thing was constructing a neighborhood map on our floor, using the Make Your Own City cut-outs from the Homeschool Share lapbook. Building it was more fun than playing with it, though. I left it up on the floor for about a week, but no one really played with it after it was all constructed!

Then, they also made their own city using a Sims City app. That was a favorite activity with Daddy for a few weeks.

Crayola has a free Neighborhood Map Coloring page where kiddos can practice their skill at following directions.

Plus we learned about Street Signs, again using the information from the Homeschool Share lapbook. We collected data and created a graph showing what the most common and least common signs are around our house. This was a great game to play while driving an hour up north.

FIAR: Katy and the Big Snow

What better way to appreciate the cold winter weather than to delve into "Katy and the Big Snow" by Virginia Burton?!

We have spent a good chunk of the deep winter months here in Minnesota rowing "Katy," along with "Stopping by the Woods on A Snowy Evening" illustrated by Susan Jeffers.

WE READ:
- Snow Crazy by Tracy Gallop
- The Snowman by Raymond Briggs
- Stranger in the Woods by Carl R. Sams
- Snowballs by Lois Ehlert
- Snow by Uri Shulevitz
- The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
- Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
- Snow (Weather Watch) by Alice Flanigan
- Whatever the Weather: Snow by Lauren Taylor
- Snow (Science of the Skies) by Bill McAuliffe
- The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter’s Wonder by Mark Cassino
- Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
- The Missing Mitten Mystery by Steven Kellogg
- Snip Snip Snow by Nancy Poydar
- All You Need for a Snowman by Alice Shertle
- The Snow Globe Family by Jane O’Connor
- Ice Bear: In the Steps of a Polar Bear by Nicola Davies
- Snow is My Favorite and My Best by Lauren Child
- My Grandma Loves Hockey by Lori Weber
- Pond Hockey by Andrew Sherburne
- Twelve Owls by Laura Erickson
- Great Wolf and the Woodsman by Helen Hoover (illustrations by Betsy Bowen - Minnesota artist whom we love!)
Other related books: See post on rowing Stopping By The Woods on a Snowy Evening

WE LISTENED TO:
- Music Time Songs for all four seasons: 58 children's classics for all four seasons (2007)

WE DID:
As always, we based our activities off the Katy and the Big Snow lapbook over at Homeschool Share.

First, we mined our memories and wrote what we know about Katy. Then we used our imaginations to create our own characters!

The depth of the snow is a big deal in Katy, so we cut pieces of string that were as long as the snow was deep. Then we measured a bunch of various things in the house.

We used Scrabble tiles to create words.

Our gluten-free, corn-free, snow-like sand was the perfect complement to our study!

Storytime at the U of M Arboretum in Chanhassen introduced us to few lovely winter tales.

WE WATCHED:

 


Related blog posts:
- FIAR: Learning about our neighborhood