Grow Your Own Crystals

  Secondary | Materials | Views: 42701

• Watch the video »

You will Need:

• Salt
• Water
• Paper clip
• Straw
• Elastic band
• A glass/jar
• Cotton string

What to Do:

1. Boil your kettle and let it cool. Ask an adult to help you fill a jar or glass with warm water.
2. Add several teaspoons of salt to the water and stir until all the salt has dissolved. Keep adding, a teaspoon at a time, and repeat this until no more salt will dissolve.
3. Tie a paper clip onto the end of a piece of string and wrap this around a straw. The straw will be what hangs your paper clip in the water to form the crystal. Bend the straw so that it hangs over the jar, and put an elastic band around the top of the jar to hold it in place.
4. The paper clip should hang in your crystal solution for around a week, don’t touch! Observe after a week, and leave for longer if needed.
5. The process of crystallisation has occurred! Observe your crystal closely. What can you see? Has it formed any specific shapes? Can you explain how this has happened?

Show us your crystals! Send a photo to askanambassador@canterbury.ac.uk or tag us on Twitter @STEMHUB_SE

---

« Back