Snowflakes Are Falling In Your Homeschool

It is the middle of the winter, and most places have plenty of snow. Learn about snowflakes this month in your homeschool.

~Wilson Bentley is famous for photographing snowflakes. He successfully photographed his first snowflake on January 15, 1885. Try researching his work and life. Watch this informative video about his life. It starts out told in the first person.

-There is a Snowflake Bentley website where you can find out more about his life. There are also copies of his photographs posted there.

-Read the following books to research Bentley’s life:

Snowflake Bentley (Caldecott Medal Book)

The Snowflake Man: A Biography of Wilson A. Bentley

My Brother Loved Snowflakes: The Story of Wilson A. Bentley, the Snowflake Man

~Learn about snowflakes. Go to the Cal Tech website for host of information.

-Read the following books to research snowflakes:

Snowflakes in Photographs

Ken Libbrecht’s Field Guide to Snowflakes

The Snowflake : A Water Cycle Story

-Observe snowflakes. How Stuff Works has a great lesson plan for this science experiment.

~Make snowflakes in various artistic ways. These books can help:

Snowflakes for all Seasons

Make Your Own Paper Snowflakes

Easy Tatting (Dover Needlework Series)

~At ProTeacher you can find a few math activities related to a snow theme. My two favorites are:

-Have a snowball fight. Write a math fact on a piece of white paper and crumple it up in a ball. Make a whole pile of these. Throw your “snowballs” at each other for a specified time. Then everyone takes turns reading the math facts out loud. Repeat.

-Use shaving cream on a table or desk as your snow. Have your child write in the shaving cream. Write math facts or draw shapes. Recite a number such as one hundred forty five and have your child write it in the shaving cream – 145.

Photos, Snowflake-024 & Snowflake-009, courtesy of yellowcloud

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