google drawings and building a snowflake

img_2266.jpgEvery January I embark upon a celebration of snowflakes that boggles the minds of most teachers. I LOVE snowflakes, and they have so many interesting science and mathematical connections to make with students of every age! This year I added a google drawing component to my lessons, asking students to learn shortcuts in gsuite as they demonstrated understanding of the structure of a snowflake (hexagonal). Students drew and labeled their flakes- they can be categorized in several ways- and used their newfound techie shortcuts to make fabulous flakes. I shared a google drawing example to start them off, but their creations quickly became all their own. Below are two of my faves that students shared with me via google- another plus is that these could have been collaboratively made in gsuite.

Screen Shot 2019-07-14 at 8.04.34 PM Screen Shot 2019-07-14 at 8.05.01 PM

 

snowflakes in the library

We had an extended snowflake unit this winter that included a biography of Wilson Bentley, the snowflake man, and studying the science and structure of snowflakes. Each student and faculty member was invited to create their own flake and help us decorate the library with them! Every flake had the name of the person who made it and the title of a good book they recommended.

snowflakes

spotlight_2011