It’s winter and it may not feel much like winter where you are. Snow and ice remind me of crystals, so I thought it would be fun to share how to grow some crystals. The site I’m sharing with you today has several different methods for growing crystals. Some methods are very quick, for those impatient little ones, and some take a bit more time, be it several hours or a couple of days. Some use readily available items you can purchase at the local grocery store and others require harder to locate ingredients.
I recommend the first four, as they use borax (found in the laundry section) or epsom salts, which can be found in the pharmacy department. The fourth one makes a geode, which seems pretty cool to me.
http://chemistry.about.com/od/crystalsforbeginners/tp/Easy-Crystal-Growing-Recipes.htm
This one uses simple salt and vinegar and gives a bit of explanation of how it works.
http://chemistry.about.com/od/crystalrecipes/a/saltvinegar.htm
Here’s another collection of ideas.
http://chemistry.about.com/od/crystalsforbeginners/tp/quickcrystalprojects.htm
You could try several different methods and have your child/children log the similarities and differences in each method and length of time to form crystals. Don’t forget to have them look at the crystals with a magnifying glass or microscope. Or might be able to use a macro lens on a camera and zoom in to see it better on a computer screen.
Well, that’s enough for today.
Until next time, God bless,
Michele ºÜº