Read this aloud:
Snow was falling softly past the window. Ava pressed her nose to the glass. "From here it just looks like white fluff," she said. "But in books, snowflakes look like little stars." Her cousin Theo caught one on his mitten. "Quick, look before it melts!" But by the time they found a magnifying glass, it was gone. Your job: catch a snowflake and look inside it, and find out how it got its shape.
Jobs:
- One child does everything, with you helping.
- Two children: the Catcher (holds the cold cloth out to catch flakes) and the Looker (uses the magnifying glass and describes what they see).
- Three children: add an Artist, who draws each snowflake fast, before it melts.
In the full lesson PDF
- Bet (5 min)
- Hunt (20–30 min)
- Reveal (10 min)
- Act (10 min)
- The science, for grown-ups
- Questions they'll ask (and what to say)
- Make it easier, make it harder
- Go further
- Student sheet
Written for parents: no science background needed. US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white, with a kids’ sheet on its own page.