Growing crystals never gets old does it. The wonder of their beauty when they form, the rainbows that you can see in a single crystal. The fun of watching them grow over several days has been great. I love it.
Maddie received a Crystal growing Kit for her birthday a few weeks ago and we have been able to spend time on it this week. This kit is well paced. You do one experiment then with the results and left over solution from that one you start another. I love that otherwise I could see us there all day doing one experiment after another.
As we only have 1 kit and more willing hands, so I pulled out an old science book that I use. Bubbles Rainbows & Worms by Sam Ed Brown. Oldie but a goody I would say.
Growing Crystals
WHAT YOU NEED; Charcoal Briskets, salt, ammonia, bluing, food colouring. (bluing is that old fashion cloths whitening product and an essential ingredient)
WHAT TO DO: Use an old pie pan or shallow glass dish. break up charcoal & put in pan. Add to the charcoal two tablespoons each of water, salt,bluing & ammonia. As the liquid evaporates, the chrysalis will begging to grow. You may add colour to this garden of crystals by adding a few drops of food colouring to the dish. you can control the size of the crystals by the amount of liquid solution you add.
Explanation Crystals are formed as the solution of salt, bluing, ammonia, water, and charcoal evaporates (passes from liquid to gas). Different solutions form different shaped crystals. the structures of the crystals are determined by their chemical content. Children may observe the shape of the crystals with a magnifying glass.
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