In this video, students will explore what happens to a bucket of snow when it is brought inside, comparing it to the fluffy snow outside.
The characters in the animated video discover the connection between temperature and the texture of snow.
There is a linked lesson with a lab experiment and game included below the video.
Teaching Tips
Positives
The video is brief and appropriate for young learners.
The characters engage students in scientific observation through story-telling.
Additional Prerequisites
If you are going to use the full lesson, you will need to prepare a number of materials ahead of time.
The video provides subtitles in English only.
Differentiation
If you live in a climate with cold winters, students can monitor snow's properties throughout the week or month, logging the temperatures and textures.
This video would fit nicely into a unit on weather or states of matter.
Older students can discuss and predict how snow and winters might change as the climate changes.
English language learners may benefit from slowing the video's playback speed and using closed captioning.
Scientist Notes
This resource from PBS Kids is part of a classroom lesson focused on ice melting. The resource features a fun animated video that shows a group of characters curious about snow and ice while staying warm inside on a winter day. The linked activity tasks students with using globes of ice and colored water to see how ice melts and better understand the three phases of water. A number of additional sheets are included that include a matching game and two sheets to help students understand seasons. This video is fun and informative, while the linked lesson really helps students practice their skills in observation, particularly if they complete the activities suggested in the family letter. This resource is recommended for teaching.
Standards
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
ESS2: Earth's Systems
K-ESS2-1 Use and share observations of local weather conditions to describe patterns over time.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Speaking & Listening (K-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.K.2 Confirm understanding of a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media by asking and answering questions about key details and requesting clarification if something is not understood.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.1.6 Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation.
