Snowflake Symmetry
40 minutes
Concepts: Snowflakes are six-sided crystals.
Learning Objectives: Create six-sided paper “snow” crystals, simulating real
snowflakes.
Materials:
Square Paper (5/person)
Scissors
Pictures of snowflakes
Process:
Cutting snowflakes out of paper is a classic activity, and it's still a good
one. Remember however, there are no eight-sided or four-sided snowflakes in
nature, so hold out for real six-sided crystals.
Rather than making random cuts in the folded paper, try making snowflakes that
look like the real thing! That will add a challenge to the project, and require some
thinking. It's more difficult than it sounds!
After setting up your paper to be a six-sided structure, check out pictures of real
snowflakes so you can be inspired by the real thing and try to be true to nature in
their creations!
Background Information:
Snow is formed by ice crystals that gather around dust or other particles
below freezing.
Snowflakes are made up of many crystals that multiply from one seed
crystal.
Snowflakes look white because of reflections off the crystals' many faces.
Snowflakes have six sides or six points.
Most have symmetry – vertical, horizontal, or both.
No two snowflakes are alike.
When cloud temperature is at freezing or below and the clouds are moisture filled,
snow crystals form. The ice crystals form on dust particles as the water vapor
condenses and partially melted crystals cling together to form snowflakes. It is said
that no two snowflakes are the same, but they can be classified into types of
crystals. All snow crystals have six sides. The six-sided shape of the ice crystal is
because of the shape and bonding of the water molecules.