100 Days of Science #40-- Growing a Crystal Garden

I have had a science experiment idea for quite some time and knew that I just needed to buy some charcoal briquettes but I really didn't want to buy a big bag for just a few pieces of charcoal. 

We found some nice small bags at our local Dollar General a few weeks ago and headed to home to whip up our own crystal garden.



After reading a few different websites on how to grow a crystal garden we settled on this method using equal parts of ammonia, bluing, table salt, water, and food coloring (though we used liquid water colors because we were all out of food coloring).


First we sprinkled our briquettes on a rimmed plate (though this was a mistake and we should have put them in a bowl!).


Then we mixed up our solution.

We used 4 Tablespoons each:

Ammonia
liquid bluing
table salt
water


We squirted some watercolors on the briquettes in a few different colors.  Then poured our solution over and round them... then we read that the charcoal should be submerged 1/2 way in the solution so we quickly swapped everything over to some disposable bowls.


Then we just had to sit and wait for crystals to form.



We read that crystals will form faster in the beginning if they have a light breeze helping to evaporate the liquid so we set up a small table fan on the lowest setting.

We also made sure to keep our crystal garden out of direct sunlight since the crystals that form are quite fragile.


Within an hour or so we had small crystals forming.


And they just kept on growing.




Two days into the experiment and we mixed up some more solution this time only using 2 Tablespoons each of ammonia, bluing, water, and table salt.  Then we carefully re-filled our bowls being very careful not to drip on our crystals.

Within a few hours we had different types of crystals growing on the sides of the bowl!


However, the crystals on our briquettes did continue to grow too.


But we were equally as fascinated with these rounded crystals on the edges.  Alec blew on them and they crumbled.  They felt very soft to the touch too (we only touched the ones that crumbled off knowing we could destroy them if we tried to feel them).




In under a week we decided our experiment was done and we could not have been happier with how many crystals we observed.




Have you ever tried growing crystals?


Others in this series:

1. Bernoulli's Principle
2. Ecotarium Trip 
3. Air Molecule Experiment
4. Kitchen Science
5. Corn Maze Field Trip 
6. Birds of Florida 
7. Making Static Music
8. Un-Make It Monday
9. Wind Tunnel Experiment
10. Biomes Field Trip
11. Disappearing Coin Trip
12. Snuffing out a Candle With Baking Soda
13. Making Plastic from Milk
14. Friction Experiment 
15. & 16. Snow Experiments
17. Making an Iceberg
18. Floating Eggs
19. Pond Water Under a Microscope 
20. Planting Eco Plant Pals
21. & 22. Cotton Candy Experiments
23. Springfield Science Museum Trip
24. Signs of Spring
25. Color Changing Slime
26. Growing Our Own Tickle Plants
27. Learning About Soil Sampling
28. Making Bouncy Balls
29. Exploring the Shoreline
30. Color Changing Flowers
31. Roger Williams Zoo Trip
32. Edible Silly Putty 
33. Raising Tadpoles
34. More Microscope Fun 
35.  Homemade Ice Cream
36. How Plants Breathe Experiment 
37. Save The Bay Exploration Center Trip
38. Making Fresh Peach Preserves 
39. Making Solar S'mores

Comments

  1. That is an awesome experiment! I am going to have to try this with my nieces and nephews

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a fun experiment! My little science loving son would love this!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is too cool! I always love to see what you guys are making. Thank you so much for sharing with us at the Whimsical Wednesdays Link Party!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Share Our Lives: 5 Items I Can't Live Without

Prime Purchases in February 2023

Let's Look At... Our Grocery haul