Why do snowflakes have different shapes?
The shape is dependent on the crystals that grow, and the crystals are dependent on the surrounding temperature which changes in tiny ways many times as the snowflake is created. All 6 “arms” have the same general pattern, however, because they all are subject to exactly the same temperature changes at the same time. NOTE: All the “arms” may not have exactly the same pattern (although it looks like it to us!), because very small changes in temperature and other conditions make tiny differences among the arms. Is it hard to study snowflakes? Your teacher’s answer is YES, even though we have had fun learning about snowflakes in grade 2! From reading the information about snowflakes, I was amazed to see how complicated and technical this study is! There are mathemeticians, scientists, meteorologists, and “snowflake lovers” all over the world who are still studying snowflakes today! That’s a lot of great minds studying! 5. Here are step-by-step instructions for cutting paper so that you ca
