During the month of January, we have been learning about snow, ice, and all things winter. We read Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton. It is a story about Katy the snowplow who was always waiting for her big chance to help. When a blizzard blankets the city, everyone is relying on her to dig them out.
By observing snow plows in our own city, we noticed something being sprinkled out the back. We decided to experiment and find out why Katy and the other snowplows used salt when plowing. It only made sense that we chose to make ice cream.
In our experiment, we learned that ice absorbs energy in order to melt, changing it from a solid to a liquid. When we used salt to cool the ice, it lowered the freezing point of the ice. This made the ice colder than it was before, which helped our ice cream to freeze. We came to the conclusion that snow plows use salt to help melt the ice, making it safe for drivers.
