Thursday, August 4, 2016

Snow in July: Grandparents University participants learn about snow crystals

This past week, the Space Science and Engineering Center had the pleasure of hosting the “meteorology majors” from the Grandparents University program run through the UW-Madison Alumni Association.  Participants learned about atmospheric and oceanic sciences though fun activities including building an anemometer and model weather satellite, assembling a solar bead bracelet, taking a virtual field trip to Antarctica, and designing snow crystals. 

One of the presentations of the program focused on the Schwerdtfeger Library’s Bentley Collection, a collection of photomicrographs showcasing the various types of snow crystals.  Below is a short video of images from the Bentley Collection used during the presentation that depicts the various classification types for snow crystals following the Magono and Lee classification scheme.