This month we explore some fun facts about snow.
Snow is NOT frozen rain. Sleet is frozen rain. Snow is frozen water vapor [the gas form of water]. Snow forms when water vapor changes into a solid without first becoming a liquid. This happens in clouds.
Scientists call snowflakes snow crystals. A snow crystal is a single ice crystal.
The shape of a snow crystal is determined by the conditions it experiences. All snow crystals have six sides. Individual snow crystals, however, can take many different shapes. As each snow crystal moves through clouds, it experiences different conditions. This changes the way the “arms” of the crystal grow. Since different snowflakes take different paths, they are all different.
Most people on Earth have never seen real snow.
It never snows in some of the places on Earth with the most people. This means over half of the people on Earth have never experienced a snowfall. Have you ever seen snow?
What Do You Think? How would you describe snow to someone who has never experienced it? (If you’ve never seen it yourself, use what you’ve learned.)
Photo Credit: (l, c, r) Marion Owen/Design Pics/Getty Images
