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On Friday I tried out a new STEM lesson.  One of my colleagues was looking for a fun, winter-themed lab and I suggested we try making crystal snowflakes.  What a huge hit!  We started by discussing crystals as related to snowflakes.  I shared a video about the formation of snowflake crystals, and we talked about different types of crystals.

snowflake lab 1

 

 

The lab itself is extremely simple.  We made snowflake ‘skeletons’ out of pipe cleaners, and hung them in cups full of a borax/hot water solution.  We discussed vocabulary terms such as solution, saturation, evaporation, and precipitation.  The kids were extremely excited.  I let them choose food coloring to dye their solution with, and we left them over the weekend.  This morning, I pulled out my demo snowflake, and it was covered in crystals.  I can’t wait for the kids to come in and see them!

snowflake lab 2

Want to try this lesson yourself?  Check it out below:

STEM - Crystal Snowflakes