Chasing Snowflakes

Well, I thought my life had been more exciting the last couple of days, but it turns out I was wrong. I went to look through the pictures on my phone, and all I had were these:

That's right. Microscopes and microscope slides. I had this wild idea about looking at snowflakes under microscopes, and the internet told me it was possible. So, I borrowed these from my favorite science teacher, froze the slides and waited for the snow that the weatherman promised. It was supposed to be snowing during my classes with 1st, 2nd, and 5th graders, so I thought this would be a fun activity. We were also going to read Snowflake Bentley, a book about a scientist who took the first photos of snowflakes and discovered that each one is different.

No such luck for the kids, but right after school a few flakes started flying. I got the slides out of the freezer and propped open my emergency exit (thankfully there's no alarms) and started running around trying to catch big flakes. Then, I'd run them inside and try to get them under the microscope before they melted. I caught a very quick glimpse of one, but the rest melted too fast. And of course, my favorite science teacher was out doing the same thing. The flakes were pretty small, and we should've used either felt or hairspray on the slides. Don't worry, the slides are still in the freezer, and the microscopes in my room for the next time we get some real snow. I might have to move the microscopes outside to help keep them from melting, but now I am dead set on seeing a snowflake.