SNOWFLAKE RESEARCH

DIRECTIONS – PLEASE READ!!

A. Write down each search phrase you use for each
question.
B. Record the answer to the question.
C. Paste the URL of the sites where the answers are found.

Try different search engines! Bing, Dogpile, Yahoo, AltaVista,

Metacrawler, GoCom

1. What is the name of the self-educated farmer who studied

snowflakes?
SEARCH TERMS/PHRASES USED TO GET ANSWER URL OF SITE WITH
THE ANSWER – the less words, the better! ANSWER
1. farmer who studied snowflakes Wilson Bentley http://alturl.com/dzvm8
2.
3.
4.
5.

2. These are two things that make one snowflake different than
another:
SEARCH TERMS/PHRASES USED TO GET ANSWER URL OF SITE WITH
THE ANSWER – the less words, the better! ANSWER
1. what makes a snowflake different than another 1.tempeture http://alturl.com/z9uvp
2. 2.humidity
3.
4.
5.

3. Larger, complex snowflakes are all different. Why are no two

exactly like the
other?
SEARCH TERMS/PHRASES USED TO GET ANSWER URL OF SITE WITH
THE ANSWER – the less words, the better! ANSWER
you can often pick out a
1. large complex snowflake hundred separate http://alturl.com/kcgcu
2. features if you look
closely. Since all those
3. features could have
grown differently, or
4. ended up in slightly
5. different places
4. What type of snowflakes CAN look like one another?
SEARCH TERMS/PHRASES USED TO GET ANSWER URL OF SITE WITH
THE ANSWER – the less words, the better! ANSWER
1. What snowflake can look like another Nano http://alturl.com/xmmc2
2. Snowflakes
3.
4.
5.

5. The Guinness Book of World Records recorded the largest

snowflake. Where did
it fall and how wide and thick was it?
SEARCH TERMS/PHRASES USED TO GET ANSWER URL OF SITE WITH
THE ANSWER – the less words, the better! ANSWER
1. Guinness book of world record largest snowflake Fort Keogh, http://alturl.com/z8uqe
2. Montana
3. 15 inches wide
4. and 8 inches
5. thick

6. What is "snirt" and what does that have to do with snow?

SEARCH TERMS/PHRASES USED TO GET ANSWER URL OF SITE WITH
THE ANSWER – the less words, the better! ANSWER
1. what is snirt snow dirty disgusting http://alturl.com/9wa4g
2. snow that
3. accumulates on
4. sides of roads
5. over the winter

7. There are at least 35 types of snowflakes. Name five.

SEARCH TERMS/PHRASES USED ANSWER URL OF SITE WITH ANSWER
TO GET THE ANSWER – the less
words, the better!
1. is there at least 35 types of snowflakes 1.SimplePrisms http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-
2. 2.stellar plates /news/
3. 3.sectoredplates
4. 4.stellardendritres
5. 5.double plates

8. There is a lot of snowflake art. What would you buy at the

snowflake store?
SEARCH TERMS/PHRASES ANSWER URL OF SITE WITH ANSWER
 USED TO GET THE ANSWER –
the less words, the better!
1. Snowflake Art Photoshop http://www.webresourcesdepot.com/photoshop-
2. Brushes snowflake-brushes-collection/
3. Collection
4.

9. Find a movie that shows a snowflake forming.

SEARCH TERMS/PHRASES USED TO GET ANSWER URL OF SITE WITH
THE ANSWER – the less words, the better! ANSWER
2. snowflake formation video http://alturl.com/a8398
3.
4.
5.

10. Copy and paste a snowflake PHOTO below. Don’t forget to paste
the URL.

http://alturl.com/u5in9

BONUS: Briefly explain how snowflakes are made (not the paper kind!)
It turns out that "pure" snow is made up of snowflakes which are made up of from 2 to 200 separate snow
crystals. Snow crystals are crystals that have formed around tiny bits of dirt that have been carried up into the
atmosphere by the wind. So snow crystals are really soil particles that have been dressed up in ice.

Scientists think that there are really four different shapes of snow crystals. The simplest shape is a long needle
shaped like a spike. The other shapes all have six sides. One of them is a long, hollow column that is shaped
like a six-sided prism. There are also thin, flat six-sided plates. And lastly there are intricate, six-pointed stars.

The shape that a snow crystal will take is dependent upon the temperature at which it was formed. The
temperature in the highest clouds is around -30°F and they are made up exclusively of ice crystal columns. The
other three shapes are formed in a narrow temperature range. When the temperature in the clouds is 3° to 10°F
the star shaped crystals form. From 10°-18°F the plates form, and from 18°-23°F columns form. From 23°-
27°F needles form and from 27°-32°F the plates reappear. As the snow crystals grow they become heavier and
fall towards Earth. If they spin like tops as they fall then they may be perfectly symmetrical when they hit the
Earth. But if they fall in a sideways fashion then they end up lopsided. Falling snow crystals clump together
forming snowflakes. Each snowflake is made up of from 2 to about 200 separate crystals.