FROZEN FACTS
- Snowflakes form when water vapor freezes around tiny bits of dust in the air. No dust, no snowflakes.
- Scientists have identified 10 types, including graupel (granular) flakes, as well as sleet and hail. The other seven varieties are the more familiar crystal shapes.
- No two snowflakes are alike? In the mid-1980’s, a scientist found snowflakes that were extremely similar 20,000 feet in the air above Wisconsin.
- Snow crystals are always six-sided, because the atoms in water molecules are arranged in triangles.
- The exact size and shape of a snowflake depend on the temperature, moisture content in the air and how much time it has to grow before hitting the ground—or your acetate sheet.
Learn a fun way to save a snowflake here!
Cool! We’ll have to try this!