Nature Net News
January 2009
Snow
"Out of the bosom of the air,
Out of the cloud-folds of her garments shaken,
Over the woodlands brown and bare,
Over the harvest-fields forsaken,
Silent, and soft and slow
Descends the snow."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Dear Reader, Just the other day when I sighed aloud at the irritation of snow - the shoveling, the scraping of the car, the hazardous roadways - my daughter of five years looked at me and said, "But mom, don't you like to make snow angels?" Snow angels. I hadn't thought of throwing myself in a snowbank in years. I guess it takes being a kid or a kid at heart (or a swift reminder from your offspring) to disregard snow's nuisances and enjoy it for the pure miracle of every individual flake, the joy of crunching, stomping and wading through fresh drifts, and the satisfaction of a well made snow angel. Is each snowflake really unique and why are they six-sided? Find out in this month's Nature Net News plus, get creative with your backyard snow sculptures and find the best Madison parks to break out your cross-country skis. Enjoy! Kathe & Betsy |
"Graupel" is the name for snow crystals soddened with frozen water droplets? Not technically snowflakes (because the six-sided snow crystal is damaged), graupel looks like little balls of snow as it falls. You've never heard meteorologists predicating graupel-fall because it's considered snow precipitation. See pictures of graupel.
What to Do This Month:
Hit the local ski trails at a Madison Conservation Park
Skip the snowman and create Mini Snow Creatures
Fill the snowy days with snow games
Get outdoors and stay there with a snow shelter.
Create a virtual snowflake
Remember to renew your Nature Net memberships
Find other Nature Net events on the Nature Net Calendar
Tricks of the Trail for Parents:
Keeping the Snow Out
Nothing stops a fun romp in the snow faster than snow-to-skin contact. The sting of snow on the wrists, or down the boots can be avoided, however, with a few precautions. Craft your own wrist protectors for that vulnerable place where mittens and coat meet with a clean pair of tube socks. Snip off the toe section of the sock and make a small slit at the heel. Now, before donning mittens, slide on these fingerless wrist warmers with your thumb trough the heel-slit. As for the ankles, a simple pair of gaiters will do the trick. These generally hook under the boot and then wrap around the lower leg, over the boot and pants. There're available at sporting goods stores and will also come in handy this spring to keep pant legs protected from the slush and mud.
Instant Outdoor Expert:
Snowflakes
They say no two snowflakes are alike. Scientist and photographer Wilson Bentley spent most winters of his life photographing snowflakes and never found two exactly alike. Why? For one, there are several different snowflake shapes - not only the well-known six-sided star shape (or dendrite) but also plates, columns, needles, and others. Each starts as a six-sided snow crystal: water vapor condensed directly into ice. As the snow crystal grows, more water vapor condensing to the original crystal, there is an infinite possibility of branching and expansion. The shape a snowflake eventually takes depends on how the crystal bumps into more water vapor and the rate at which this happens - all of which is affected by temperature and humidity. Though some argue the very simplest snow crystal plates are alike, the possibility of any one complex snowflake developing exactly like another is statistically unlikely.
Why the six sides? The very essence of snow is water - two hydrogen molecules bonded to one oxygen, forming an equal sided triangle. When water crystallizes, turning to ice, three of these triangles bond, forming a hexagon. It is from this molecular shape that snow crystals form. All growth and change occurs while maintaining this original structure. Find out more on this topic and see a diagram at Cienciateca.com.
Learn the answers to common questions about snow from the National Snow and Ice Data Center.
And for for fun, take a look at these Stereo Images of Snowflakes - can you see them in 3D?
Featured Nature Net Site
Nature Craft
Madison Conservation Parks
The
Madison
Conservation Parks consist of 14 different and unique conservation parks. A conservation
park differs in how it is managed and why the land was acquired. The
goal of the conservation park is to restore native plant and animal
communities while providing education areas and opportunities for
everyone.
In the late 1960s, the City of Madison began purchasing land in what is
now Cherokee Marsh. This large and diverse wetland needed to be
preserved for future generations. Since formally establishing a
Conservation Parks Program in 1971, the City has acquired and manages
over 1600 acres of conservation parkland.
Conservation parkland is our past, present and future. We need to
preserve this land, restore it to its original state now for future
generations to have a window to our past.
Conservation Parks with ski trails: Owen and Cherokee
Other Conservation Parks: Edna Taylor, Elvehjem, Heritage Sanctuary &
Prairie, Hiestand, Kettle Pond, Knowllwood, Paunack, Prairie Ridge,
Sandburg Woods, Stricker's Pond and Turville Point.
Park hours are 4 a.m. until one hour after sunset.
Snow Accessories
With record amounts of snow this year, take
advantage of the bounty and create some fun backyard accessories.
To make snow luminaries, pack snow into a nonstick or tinned steel Bundt pan. To release form, tap bottom of pan firmly. If snow "cake" doesn't come out in one piece, pack the snow in again and let the filled pan sit outside for about 30 minutes to harden, then release. Trim the wick of a pillar candle to 1/4 inch, so the flame stays small. Secure candle on a flat surface, such as a step, by packing snow around it. Once you have three forms, stack them over candle. Lightly spritz pillar with water; everything will freeze in place. To light the candle, use a long fireplace match.
You can also invite young friends to gather around a table made of
snow. Tightly pack snow (wet snow works better than the powdery kind)
into two large galvanized tubs, and leave it overnight to harden.
Overturn one tub, unmold the snow, and then overturn the second tub on
top. (To ease the way, set the frozen tubs inside a garage or a shed for
a half hour to warm the snow.) For a seat, use the same trick and a
5-gallon bucket.
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Suggested Reading:
"The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats (age baby-8)
"Curious George in the Snow" by H. A. Rey (age 2-6)
"Snow Bear" by Fernleigh Books (age 2-6)
"Snow" by Philip.D. Eastman (age 4-8)
"First Snow in the Woods: A Photographic Fantasy" by Carl R. Sams & Jean
Stoick (age 4-8)
"Snow" by Uri Shulevitz (age 4-8)
"Snowflake Bentley" by Jacqueline Briggs Martin (age 4-8)
"White Snow, Bright Snow" by Alvin Tresselt (age 4-8)
"Dream Snow" by Eric Carle (ages 4-8)
"The Little Book of Snowflakes" by Kenneth Libbrecht (age 4-10)
"In the Snow: Who's Been Here?" by Lindsay Barrett George (age 4-10)
"The History of the Snowman" by Bob Eckstein (age 12-adult)
"How to Build an Igloo: And Other Snow Shelters" by Norbert E. Yankielun
(age 12-adult)
