Bundled up and magnifying glasses in hand, we went outside early Tuesday morning to observe the snow while it lasted. The cold temperatures allowed the snow to stay powdery and light - perfect for finding individual flakes. With the task of using their 5 senses to explore and observe snow, a few surprised children asked, "Can we really taste it?" How many kids would have listened if we had said no?
From these observations, the kids were asked to make two predictions. First, each child collected snow in a small paper cup. Inside, they marked a line on their cups to guess how much water would be left after the snow melted. Most children thought there would be more water left.
Next, two snowballs were put in plastic ziplock bags. One bag was left on the table, the other was placed inside of a mitten. We asked, "Which will melt first?" All but two children thought that the snow in the mitten would melt first. What a surprise to find out that the bag on the table soon became water while the snow in the mitten still held it's snowball form!
Because the results were unexpected for the children, these experiments gave us a great opportunity for discussion. Can you explain the results?
