3rd Graders Research Snowflakes Using A Variety Of Digital Tools!!

Snow.  Is there a more fitting research topic for those of us living in Minnesota?  This week, 3rd graders have been researching snowflakes!  Students have been taking their inspiration from the subject of the Caldecott Award winning book, Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. Snowflake Bentley is the true story of Wilson Bentley, the first man to photograph a snowflake. Much of what we know today about the formation of snowflakes was first discovered by Wilson Bentley before 1931!!

After reading Snowflake Bentley, we did further fact finding using a variety of resources.  Students read the MyOn eBook Flakes and Flurries:  A Book About Snow. 

We watched the formation of snowflakes under the microscope.

And we discovered even more from the BrainPOP video Snowflakes.

After gathering background from all of our sources, 3rd graders brainstormed a list of all the facts they had gathered on a Padlet wall. 

Using the Snow Creator app, students were able to create six sided unique snowflakes.  

Once hearing that no two snowflakes are alike, these two students wanted to see if they could challenge that assertion!  Verrrrrrrrry close!!!