# Tropical Island Snow Globe

By greenlig

Topic: Art, Music & Film

[Open the interactive Jig](https://ask.jig.com/j/prsgOTqVtK2g)

## Guide

### 1. A world in a glass ball

Inside this snow globe sits a tiny tropical island, sealed in clear glass on a polished wooden base\. Everything is chunky and toy\-like, made to be looked at from every side\.

Drag anywhere to turn the globe and peek around the back\.

### 2. Lush little island

Three palm trees sway over bright green grass and a ring of soft sand\. Their leaves move gently, as if a warm breeze were blowing inside the glass\.

Coconuts hang in a bunch right where the palm leaves meet the trunk\.

### 3. Why the water is turquoise

Real tropical lagoons are shallow and sit over white sand\. Water soaks up red light first, so the light that bounces back off the sand looks blue\-green\.

Many lagoons in the Maldives are only about one to four metres deep\.

### 4. The dock and the boat

A wooden dock reaches out into the lagoon, and a little red sailboat bobs beside it\. The water ripples and sparkles where it catches the sun\.

Watch the boat rock slowly up and down\.

### 5. A beach hut with a lookout

A sunny yellow hut with a straw roof and a blue door sits among the palms\. A red and blue parrot perches on the roof ridge, keeping watch over the island\.

Look closely: the parrot has blue wings and a bright yellow beak\.

### 6. Beach friends

A green sea turtle rests on the sand, a red crab holds up its big claws and an orange starfish lies near the water\. Pink hibiscus flowers brighten the bushes\.

Turn the globe to find every animal\.

### 7. Give it a shake\!

Snow globes were first written about at the Paris World's Fair in 1878\. Shake this one and a flurry of glittering sparkles swirls through the water, then slowly settles\.

The first snow globes made in Vienna around 1900 used semolina, a coarse wheat flour, as snow\.

### 8. Take a piece home

Every piece of this little world is real 3D geometry with textures and materials\. You can download the whole globe, or each tree, animal and building, as a 3D model file\.

The ripples, sparkles and swaying leaves are live effects, so model files keep a still pose\.