Winter (December 20 or 21)

Create a scene with 100 snowballs! To drop them, hit Go. To re-stack them, hit the circle with 6 snowballs in the top left corner. Try throwing them around. Great for the interactive whiteboard.

Why do we have seasons? Learn more about how the tilt of the earth gives us seasons and how different parts of the world experience seasonal change.

This online book about snow has beautiful pictures of snowy scenes and audio for early readers.

Take this quiz to find out what winter is like for Canadian animals. Which animals change colour? How do they keep warm and store up food?

How much do you know about animal hibernation? This quiz asks you to match up each animal with how it spent its winter.

If you've ever wondered how reusable hand warmers work, here's a video that explains the chemistry of how those little packages keep your hands warm.

This two-minute video explains the chemistry of how snowflakes form, "from their origins in bits of dust in clouds that become droplets of water falling to Earth".

This 9-minute video explains the cyclical phenomena at work in the universe. Learn about the subtle changes in the sky as the Earth circles the sun, following along the ecliptic. Learn how the tilt of the Earth's axis has a profound effect on the planet by creating the seasons.

Read this online book about enjoying a cold, snowy winter. There are many fun things to do when it's cold outside. Click on the speaker icon below the book for an audio option for early readers.

Here's a short online book about all of the fun activities of winter, with wintery pictures and audio for early readers.

Why do some animals hibernate? The Arctic Ground Squirrel burrows under the permafrost and slips into a state of suspended animation. The fat-tailed dwarf lemur stores its fat reserves in its tail - doubling its body weight.

Did you know that snowflakes are all six-sided and that none of them are exactly the same? Learn about the science of covalent bonds and the making of a snowflake.

Build a virtual snowman in this reading activity for beginning readers.