Classifying snowflakes is an activity that is used for many purposes. Some scientists classify the snowflakes so that they can study water vapor crystal growth, some want to study the structure of snowflakes and others are testing the theory that there are no two snowflakes that are identical. In this science fair project students will be utilizing classification techniques to determine if the altitude that the snowflake is collected impacts its design.
The hypothesis for this science fair project is that altitude does impact the design of the snowflakes that land on the ground. The independent variable in this project will be the altitude that the samples are taken from and the dependent variable will be the snowflake crystal design.
It is known that temperature is a common catalyst in chemistry science fair projects. This means that to rule out that temperature is impacting the changes in snowflake designs students will need to collect samples during snow storms that occur at different altitudes but at the same temperature or temperature range. A temperature range can span about five degrees at the most.
To conduct this experiment the student will first need to learn about the different basal snowflake structures and designs. For example, the most basic snowflake design is the hexagonal prism. As a snowflake develops and becomes more complex it evolves around a crystalline hexagonal lattice platform.
The experiment will be very simple, the student will collect and record data about snowflakes that have landed on the ground at various altitudes. The school ground is a good initial collection site. Students can then collect snowflakes from at least two other altitudes.
The data collection process will need to be quick and accurate. Students will first need to describe their collection site and process. They will then need to set out collection containers. As the snow falls students will need to quickly make their observations. If possible take photographs of the snowflakes that are collected from each site.
Once the data has been collected it will need to be analyzed. To start with the student will need to classify all of the snowflakes observed from each site. This classification will be based on snowflake design and complexity. A table will then be created for each collection site that lists the classification group for snowflakes and the number of specimens collected in that class at that site. The tables can then be compared to see if certain types of snowflakes are more or less prevalent at specific altitudes.
Wrapping up a science fair project seems to be the most challenging part of the project for students. This is because it involves the more tedious tasks. Students will need to write up their project report and they will need to create a display board. Students can use the drawings or photographs that they used for data collection as the graphics for their display board.
