During one of the coldest weeks of winter, student can hypothesize how long it takes snowman to melt inside with this science activity.

Materials:

• jar of small pebbles
• pie tin
• tiny twigs for arms
• clock

Developing Skills:

• observation
• recording data
• investigating
• prediction
• basic math and science concepts

ACTIVITY

With the coldest two months of winter ahead of us, it’s a good time to play with snow. Let your child experiment and predict how long it will take for a snowman to melt inside.

Tell your child that he will build a small snowman. This snowman will have only two sections, a body and a head. Show your child what the first ball looks like and build a snowman with him watching. Explain that he needs to be able to bring his snowman inside in a pie tin.

Once your child makes his snowman, allow him to decorate the snowman with the small pebbles and the tiny twigs.

Ask him how long it will take before the snowman completely melts. Time is a difficult concept for children to grasp at this age. Accept all predictions. The purpose of this activity is for your child to observe, record data, predict, and think in a scientific manner.

Write down each hour that passes. Show your child how each hour passes on the clock. Make references to what he has all ready done in his daily routine. This will help him make sense of the passage of an hour or three hours. Ask questions, such as: “What will happen to the pebbles and twigs as the snowmen melt?”

Remember: Time is a difficult concept for children to grasp and younger students’ predictions may be way off. You might give your child a time limit on the number of hours he can guess.

EXTENSION

On a day when it’s snowing, take your child outside to catch snowflakes on pieces of black construction paper. Observe the snowflakes through a magnifying glass. Invite him to count the points on each snowflake and discover that, despite being shaped differently, each one has six sides or points. Using white tempera paint or a white crayon on blue paper, suggest that your child draws and records a snowflake he observed. If it doesn’t snow, show your child enlarged photographic reproductions of snowflakes.