How to Observe Snowflakes

We’ve all seen photographs of beautiful snowflakes with their amazing six-sided geometric shapes. Kids love this activity, short of catching them on their tongues. And, this is an interesting way to get a look at the elusive snowflake!

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Black paper
• Magnifying glass or pocket magnifier (10x or greater)
• Day when snow is falling

1. Do a little quick research ahead of time so that you know some crystal shapes to look for. Snowflakes come in more shapes than just the typical six-sided stars. There are also plates, cups, columns, arrows and needles!
2. Get a magnifier that gives at least 10x magnification if you want to see any detail in the crystal shapes. (The round hand lenses with the handles tend to be only 3x or 5x.) Jewelers’ loupes will give you at least 10x and will provide a sharp image. You can get inexpensive 20x to 30x pocket microscopes from science supply stores. See the resources below.
3. Take your black paper and your magnifier outside and let them get cold for a few minutes before you start your observation. You don’t want your cold snowflakes to melt on warm paper.
4. Allow some flakes to fall on the black paper.
5. Put the magnifier very close to the flakes, but not touching them. (The snowflake crystals are very delicate!)
6. Look into the magnifier. Be careful not to breathe on the flakes, as your warm breath might melt them.
7. Observe multiple flakes and see how many crystal shapes you can identify. If you don’t find a lot of stunning crystal shapes, try again on another day. Some snowfalls are better than others. Don’t give up!
8. As a follow-up activity, you may want to read about the “Snowflake Man,” Wilson Bentley of Vermont. Some of his famous snowflake photographs are available online.

Tips & Warnings

• Not all snow falls bring flakes with stunning crystal shapes. Flakes that look flat and float down slowly tend to be very good for observation. Don’t even bother with artificial snow; you probably won’t find any crystal shapes at all.
• You don’t need to go chasing after extremely large flakes. Both large and small flakes are made up of tiny individual flakes that are all approximately the same size.