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Melting Snow
Demonstrate how heat affects snow with this wintry activity.
What you need:
- 3 plastic containers
- snow or crushed ice (about 3 handfuls)
What you do:
-
Put the same amount of snow or crushed ice in each container.
- Have your child place one container near a heating vent that is turned on; one container on a table, away from the sun or any other heat source; and one container in a refrigerator.
What you talk about:
Ask your child:
- Which container of snow/crushed ice do you think will melt the fastest?
- Which do you think will melt the slowest?
Continue to check on the containers until the snow/ice in one has melted at least halfway. Now ask your child:
- Did you guess correctly?
- Which container of snow/ice melted the fastest? Why?
- Which melted the slowest? Why?
Help your child conclude that the more heat you apply to snow or ice, the faster it will melt.
If the weather is beginning to thaw in your area, help your child to make a connection between the heat that melted the snow/ice in the experiment and the warm weather that is melting the snow and ice outside.