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Key Information

Snow

Type Solid Form of Water
Area Mainly in polar or mountain regions
Effect Contributes to the water cycle, is useful to plant and animal life, but can at times be destructive and problematic.

Learning Point

  • Snow is the form of water that occurs when water solidifies and crystallizes in the atmosphere during cold temperatures, and then falls to the earth. It has a major impact on our lives and, depending on where we live, can be something we see each year. It is an important part of the water cycle.

Project

  • Draw your home covered in snow, as well as your own design of snowflake.
  • Overview
  • Snowflakes
  • Snowflake Shapes
Fallen Snow
Robert Campbell KOR, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Snowflakes
Thomas Bresson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Temperature and Snowflake types
Britannica.com

Location

Located in Worldwide, but especially polar regions

Fun Facts

  • The temperature and amount of water in the air affects how snowflakes are formed, and the shapes they create.
  • Snow normally has a six-branched (hexagonal) pattern, but three-branched and 12-branched forms can occur.
  • Snow particles make up the clouds of cirrus type, such as cirrus, cirrostratus, and cirrocumulus, and many clouds of alto type.

Past Lessons

82 September 11, 2023 (North America)
No Past Lessons

Upcoming Lessons

No Upcoming Lessons