Snowflake Shapes

Goal

Students learn that snowflakes come in different shapes.

Engage students with the idea that snowflakes come in different shapes.

Explore snowflake shapes in depth.

  • Catching Snowflakes: If you are in a place where snow falls in winter, try catching snowflakes and having students take a close look.
  • Make a Flake: Students make a snowflake model based on images of real snowflakes.

Evaluate student learning by having students sort snowflakes and describe.

  • Print snowflakes at the Snow Crystals Online Gallery (snowcrystals.com) and have students sort into categories based on shape. You can define the categories for students (such as rod-shaped and star-shaped) or have students come up with their own categories. Ask students why snowflakes have different shapes. Student answers should include that snowflakes are made of different arrangements of ice crystals which gives them different shapes. Student answers may include that different types of weather lead to different snowflakes.