They impressed me so much I thought I might write a slice about them, or maybe a poem. And so I might. But today I'd like to write about questions. Wonderings.
When we arrived, I could not park. There were two vehicles in the driveway and busses facing me. If I were to park, cars would not be able to get by. So, adversity actually inspired me to drive around and snap some pictures of some of the icicles I saw. These are a couple of them.
I haven't been able to stop thinking about these icicles and my questions have started bubbling up into conscious thought. So here, they are.
- This icicle monstrosity made me wonder how much a cubic foot of ice weighed. That was an easy question to research - a cubic foot of ice is 57.2 lbs. I still wonder how many cubic feet of ice there is in this icicle.
- How long will it take to melt this? (Obviously, this answer varies, depending on the sunlight, temperature and wind.)
- Another question: Why right there? Does it have something to do with the slope of the roof?
- What would happen if you knocked that down? (Doesn't the kid in you want to try that?)
- Why do some seem to be formed at odd angles to the house? How strong does the wind have to be to make them grow at 45 degree angles?
- Does an icicle "grow"? Or form? Shouldn't growing be reserved for living things?
- Umm... are the landlords even concerned?
- What might cause an icicle to split at the end and look like a forked devil's tongue?
- Some look like the have little rings in them, and some look like an artist took a paintbrush and made little straight lines down the inside. How does this happen when they are adjacent to each other? How does it happen at all?
- One icicle looked like it took a 45 degree angle detour before continuing. Again, how does this happen?
- How strong does the wind have to be to make them grow at 45 degree angles?
- How are air bubbles formed in them?
- Some look to be razor sharp needlepoints at the bottom. If it fell on you... well that's kind of a gory question, but you get the drift, I think.
The world is full of questions, full of wonderings! So, next time I am modeling questioning with my students, I will be ready with a list of my own!
I loved your questions! Yes, I think we have to question everything around us. It pushes us to reflect and explore on many different things in our daily lives! Thank you for the great photos!
ReplyDeleteWhat a list of fun questions! Do you use Wonderopolis with your students? Looks like you'd love it! Such a fun site for interesting articles based around these kinds of intriguing questions.
ReplyDeleteQuestions about icicles . . . Who knew there could be so many? My daughter is in Ithaca, so we fly into Syracuse sometimes. I spent several weeks there last summer, but I don't envy you your winters.
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