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"Grow Snow Crystals" WebApp Courtesy of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), Copyright © 2013 by Tom Whittaker and Steve Ackerman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

How do different temperatures affect snowflakes?

Every snow crystal has a six-sided (hexagonal) shape, but they come in all different arrangements and sizes.

As a snowflake forms, it can move to different parts of the cloud. Differences in temperature and humidity affect the snowflake's shape.

Explore how snowflake crystals take shape depending on temperature:

1. Click in one of the temperature zones (between the lines).

2. Move your cursor to a different temperature zone and click some more.

3. Combine up to three different shapes.

4. Click multiple times to watch the crystal grow.

5. Click below the cloud to start over.

Find out more about snowflakes and how they form.

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See how temperature affects the shape of snowflakes.

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Most kids love making hands-on science activities. However, many science experiments call for massive ingredients lists, a lot of time, or unusual ingredients. We like making simple science experiments that you can make from ingredients and supplies you already have on hand. A classic and fun simple science experiment is the tornado in a jar. With this experiment, kids can see how air that swirls in a circular pattern can create a funnel and pick stuff up off the ground.

MATERIALS NEEDED FOR THE TORNADO IN A JAR ACTIVITY:

Tall jar (we used a 16 ounce mason jar)

Food coloring (optional)

Dish soap

Vinegar

Glitter

Water

Mix 1 teaspoon of vinegar, 1 teaspoon of dish soap, and 1 teaspoon of glitter in a jar 3/4 full of water. Stir everything in carefully so that you don't make too many bubbles. If you shake your jar too much, it won't make a tornado. If this happens, you don't have to throw the batch out. Just wait until the bubbles settle and then you'll be able to make another tornado.

We added a few drops of yellow food coloring to our jar. Where we live, sometimes the sky turns a scary, sickly yellow when a tornado is near, so we wanted to mimic that in our jar. You could also use blue for the sky color. Whatever color you add, make sure to just add a bit of color or you won't be able to see your tornado.

Screw the lid on tightly and give the jar a swirling motion to create the tornado.

You can also use a knife to stir things around. We found this made a more dramatic tornado in our jar.

Watch as the tornado funnels down to the bottom of the jar, comes up, and picks up some of the glitter sitting on the bottom.

You can use this opportunity to talk about how tornadoes work and why they pick up stuff from the ground as well.

My kids wanted to repeat making tornadoes for nearly an hour. They were delighted at the results of their tornado in a jar!

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Making a tornado is easy and tons of fun!

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Most kids love making hands-on science activities. However, many science experiments call for massive ingredients lists, a lot of time, or unusual ingredients. We like making simple science experiments that you can make from ingredients and supplies you already have on hand. A classic and fun simple science experiment is the tornado in a jar.

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Weather vs. Climate: Crash Course Kids #28.1

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Some facts I found interesting about tornadoes were. The widest tornado was 2.6 miles wide. There are mores than one type of tornado. The middle of the US is called "Tornado Alley" because there are so many tornadoes. A lot of people say tornadoes are way worse than hurricanes.

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Some facts I found interesting were, A big H on a weather map means high pressure. A big L on a weather map means low pressure. Also on weather maps there are different fronts. A line of blue pointy triangles means a cold front is coming which can bring storms and heavy rain. A line with red half circles is a warm front which can bring gentle rain or snow and a increase in temperatures.

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Some facts I found interesting were Air pressure is the pressure of the atmosphere. Density and air pressure work together all the time. When the air pressure goes up the density goes up. High pressure is when the air sinks. Low pressure is when the air rises.

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Some facts I found interesting were, The water cycle is the process that water goes through. The stages are condensation,evaporation, transportation and precipitation. The water cycle can start at any stage but as long as it come back around then it will be a full water cycle. Anywhere there is water, that same water has gone through one or more cycles.

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Some facts I found interesting were . There are 3 main cause of weather. Weathering, Erosion and deposition. Weathering is when the weather breaks things down. Erosion is when the sediment gets broken down. And deposition is when that sediment gets DROPPED in a new location.

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A couple facts I found interesting were, There are 5 different layers of the atmosphere. The first one is the Troposphere and that's the layer we live in. Then its the stratosphere,mesosphere,thermosphere and then the exosphere.

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Some facts I found interesting were. Weather is is the forecast over a short period of time. Climate is the average weather conditions over a long period of time in one area. For a example of weather " Friday is going to be 84 and sunny with light winds". And a example for climate is " The average temperature for Albany in May is High 80's and sun"