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Big Learning in the Snow |
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For no-school snow days full of Big Learning After sledding, hot cocoa, and a game we call "tired brothers arguing loudly," try these snow-based activities. They're fun, and even educational.
Learn about record-breaking snow storms http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/ussc/SCoptions110. Imagine a snowstorm producing 15 feet of snow in four days. Get out a tape measure and stretch it out 15 feet to give kids a real-life sense of that much snow - higher than the ceiling in most houses. Is it true no two snowflakes are the same? http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/ Everything you ever wanted to know about snowflakes, and some pretty pictures too.
Learn more ways to say how cold it is: Use a dual-scale (Fahrenheit and celsius) thermometer to express the temperature in both scales. While your at it, learn some common reference temperatures in each scale, such as water's freezing and boiling point, the indoor temperature in your living room, and normal body temperature. For example, water boils at 212 degrees Fahrenheit and 100 degrees Celsius. If you don't have a dual scale thermometer, you can look at mine on BigLearning.org: www.biglearning.org/thermometer.htm Older kids can earn the AMS (add-multiply-subtract) method for mentally converting between Fahrenheit and Celsius temperatures. The method is explained fully on this page: http://www.sas.org/E-Bulletin/2002-03-08/features3/body.html Adults might want to learn it themselves and teach it to their kids - the text is a little dense for a kid but otherwise very clear. Make a snow globe: This web page, http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/snglobe.html tells you how. Read Snowflake Bentley: "Snowflake" Bentley was a photographer who made a name for himself photographing snowflakes. There's a beautiful children's book about him, titled Snowflake Bentley. There's also a web site, http://www.snowflakebentley.com.
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