Snow

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/snow

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the atmospheric nucleation?Ice crystals form around microscopic particles, attracting supercooled water droplets
2. What is the snowpack transformation processes?Includes sintering, sublimation, and freeze-thaw cycles, altering density and structure
3. What is a snowflake and why does it have six sides?A snowflake is a tiny ice crystal that forms in clouds. It usually has six sides because water molecules arrange themselves in a hexagonal pattern when they freeze.
4. How does snow turn into a snowpack on the ground?When many snowflakes fall and stick together, they start loosely connected. Over time, pressure and temperature make the ice crystals bond, making the snowpack denser and stronger.

Nucleation: The initial process of forming ice crystals from water vapor or supercooled droplets.
Sintering: The bonding of ice crystals within a snowpack due to pressure and temperature, increasing density.
Sublimation: The direct transition of ice into water vapor without passing through the liquid phase.
Cryosphere: All the parts of Earth where water is in solid form, including ice sheets, glaciers, and snow.