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Maggie’s
Activity Pack
Name __________________________
Date ___________________________
Wild Weather: Snowstorms
Have you ever put a spoon under your bed? Many children do this if they
want a snow day. Sometimes they even wear their pajamas backwards. But
these things won’t really do the trick. Read on to find out what really does make
it snow. You will also find out about “lake effect” snow.
Cold air mass
“Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!”
Watch out, a very cold mass of air is moving in
from the north. If it bumps into a warm air mass, it makes
the warm air rise. The cold air slides under the warm air.
This makes the warm air rise. It cools and forms clouds.
Ice crystals in the clouds bump into each other.
Snowflakes are formed. Snow falls if the temperature
Warm air mass
between the cloud and ground is less than 40°F.
Every snowflake is different. You can even tell
When a warm air mass slides OVER
a cold air mass, this is called a warm
something about weather in a cloud by looking at its
front. Snow may fall.
snowflakes. Flakes that are shaped like needles and
rods came from very cold air. Other, snowflake patterns come from warmer air. If
you live in a snowy area, you know that some snow “packs better” than other
snow. You can build a better snowman on warmer winter days.
“Winter Wonderland”
Some areas get more snow than other areas. People who live near the
Great Lakes in the United States know this. Very cold air rushes across the Great
Lakes from the north. This cold air “meets” the warmer air of the Great Lakes.
This makes more snow for those who live near big lakes. Places like Marquette,
Michigan and Buffalo, New York get a lot of this lake effect snow!
You will probably get a day off of school if there is a blizzard. This is a
snowstorm that has 35 mile an hour winds. There is blinding snow. Snow
squalls have bursts of heavy falling snow. There may be gusts of wind. Snow
may pile up quickly. A snow shower may not give you that day of rest. Snow
falls for a short time. There may only be a few inches of the white stuff. But you
can still bundle up for some winter recess fun!
© Maggie's Earth Adventures, LLC 2007. Teachers may reproduce for classroom use.
Each
snowflake has
six sides!
Wilson Alwyn Bentley is a famous Vermont farmer.
He spent many years taking beautiful photographs of
snowflakes.
Snowflakes look different because they change as
they fall from clouds. They may melt a bit. They can bump
into another snowflake. They may even freeze with a drop
of water.
Applying Science
A. You want to take pictures of snowflakes. You turn on the t.v. to listen to the
weather forecast. What do you hope to hear? (Use words like cold air mass and
warm air mass.) Write a good weather forecast for taking snowflake pictures.
B. What kind of snowfall do you think these people would like to see? Tell why
you made each conclusion.
1. A seven year old girl who just moved to Wisconsin from Thailand –
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2. A teacher who is giving a big test –
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3. A boy who likes to ski –
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© Maggie's Earth Adventures, LLC 2007. Teachers may reproduce for classroom use.
Dear Colleague,
Welcome to another in our Wild Weather series, a very timely series for this school year,
given the extreme weather conditions that have plagued so many areas. Our Maggie
subscribers get the “benefit” of my university teaching assignments. This semester I am
teaching a methods class in science. In doing my background research for this course, I was,
again, reminded of the importance of applying science principles. This skill will become even
more important as we, in the United States, move toward this subject area’s inclusion in the No
Child Left Behind Act. I have had the opportunity to analyze various state assessments as we
prepare for the advent of these high-stakes tests. Many of your state tests will involve reading
and creating graphs along with the application of information students glean from reading short
essays of scientific ideas. That is why we bring you activity packets such as this…we want to
help you and your students! Let us know what else we can do to be of service.
I encourage you to integrate these activities with other subject areas. Why not have your
students prepare a weather forecast based on the information they wrote for the meteorologist.
For added fun, videotape it! This would help children with that all to often neglected area of
language arts – speaking! Many students, and not just younger children, would enjoy cutting
snowflakes from tissue paper. You could assign each child to write a “Day in the Life of a
Snowflake” essay to go along with their art project. Keep in mind, that sometimes it is helpful to
allow children to do an art project before writing – this is motivating! We would love to read
some of their work. Kid’s papers always bring a smile in the cold of winter!
Happy teaching,
Kathy
Answers will vary – I suggest allowing children to compare their writing to make sure they have
adequately supported their conclusions.
Goals:
Students will read an article about the way snowstorms are formed. Explanations of “lake
effect” snow and the formation of snowflakes are also included in the article. The activities
focus on the application of facts from the article. This activity packet is available on both the
primary and intermediate levels. The activity correlates with Content Standard D, Earth and
Space Science, of the National Science Standards.
© Maggie's Earth Adventures, LLC 2007. Teachers may reproduce for classroom use.