Thursday, February 19, 2009

Shining Stars

Here is an awesome activity to try at home. This is a recipe for growing a constellation of crystals in a glass jar.
Supplies: wide mouth jar (I used a small mouth jar and had a hard time getting my star out),
water, borax (I found this in the aisle with the laundry soaps), food coloring, pipe cleaners, string, and a pencil.
Process: 1. Fill the jar with boiling water (Adults only).
2. Mix borax into the heated water, a tablespoon at a time (3 tbs per cup of water), stir in food coloring to create a dark tint.
3. Bend a pipe cleaner into a star. Tie one end of the string to the star and the other end to the pencil.

4. Rest the pencil on the jar opening so that the pipe cleaner is suspended in the solution. Set aside overnight.
5. As the water cools and evaporates, borax molecules will stack together. By morning, the star will be covered with glittery crystals. Remove it from the jar; let it drip dry. Then hang it up for a decorative sun catcher. For more projects, pick up a copy of Super Science Concoctions.

I will put a picture of our crystals in my next post.


Until then enjoy a Sunrise from the Pacific Northwest!
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1 comment:

Lorinda said...

my kids will definitely want to try that one out.