Rocks and Minerals Unit; Growing a Crystal Garden

Welcome to the unit on rocks and minerals (continued). In this part of the unit, we are learning how, how fast, and where do the crystals grow easily. First, we had to make a sketch of a garden we would like to make, also including materials and a container we could use. Next, we made the garden out of clay, plastic bottles, rubber bands, sticks, etc. On Tuesday, where my log starts, we brought them to school...

• Day 1 - 26/01/2011
• Today, we brought our crystals to school, ready for some crystals to grow. We came to  school with an A4 size final map of our garden, where we would write which crystal solutions we put where. Mrs.M talked a bit about the different crystals solutions that we could choose to grow in our garden, such as salt, Epsom salt, sugar, Borax, and Mono AP. then we started putting solutions everywhere and labeling our map.
• Day 2 - 27/01/2011
• Today, some of our crystals already started to sparkle and grow. It was a beautiful sight, but also a very messy classroom with everyone trying to show off there own garden. Mrs. M started by telling us how beautiful our gardens looked, and then we were off, pouring more of this solution there, and trying another color here. Today went by quite successfully!
• Day 3 - 28/01/2011

• Today, the Epsom salt I had put on yesterday on the cotton started to grow really quickly! It was all over the cotton ear cleaners, and it looked fantastic. I added, or actually soaked the whole 'tree' into the colored salt solution because it wasn't growing fast enough for my taste. I added mostly on places I already put, but also put some new solution in the clay river. I also added  some salt solution to the little pipe cleaners...Let's see!
• Day 4 - 29/01/2011
• WEEKEND - Crystal Garden at school
• Day 5 - 30/01/2011
• WEEKEND - Crystal Garden at school
• Day 6 - 31/01/2011

• Today I saw that the puffy stems that I had dipped into salt solution were full of awesome growing crystals. Other than that, there was not much difference with the other crystals. Some crystal solution had fallen on the floor and there you could see a bit of crystals shining in the light.

Final Post - 24/02/2011

• Today is my final post. Everything in my garden is kind of the same except that some crystals, such as the salt solution puffy stems, grew a bit more than the last time I saw them. Also, on the ear cleaners dipped in Epsom salts, the cotton started to shine just a little showing that crystals started to grow. 
• DATA ANALYSIS
• What material did the crystals grow best on?
• For me, the puffy stems with the salt solution on them grew the best of all. I think that that happened because I dipped the whole thing in the solution for a minute and then took them out to see if it would work. Already the next day they had grown a lot!
• What material did the crystals grow the worst on?
• The clay I used to make the ground. I wanted to see if the crystals could grow on a flat surface, but obviously it didn't work very well. Also, the ear cleaners were a total failure.
• What solution was the easiest to grow crystals from?
• As I said on the first question, the puffy stems grew the best with the salt, so I think that for me the salt was the easiest, especially because when I was going home you could already see it shining!
•  What solution grew crystals the slowest or were the most difficult?
• The sugar on the cotton ear cleaners and the Epsom salts grew the most difficult, but I think it was the material.
• Which method was the best for growing crystals?
• Dipping the whole stick into the solution and leaving it there for about a minute was definitely the best, you should see how well and quickly the crystals grew on the puffy stems!
• CONCLUSION
• What can you conclude about the conditions that are needed for crystals to grow?
• I can conclude that the conditions for growing crystals are usually to soak the material you want to grow the crystals on in the solution for a long period of time. Also, it's better not to use cotton ear cleaners, because that didn't work very well for me!
• Give examples from evidence you have seen from either your garden or classmate's gardens.
• I saw that some gardens didn't work very well, but some turned out beautifully. For example, Matija had a very plain garden and the only real place he could put the solution on was in a little plastic jar that he had put to look like a little fountain. So he poured a lot of solution in the 'fountain' and I think he put a piece of wood in there too. Now you can see the beautifully colored crystals growing! it took a long time, but it was worth it for him.
• What have you learned about crystals during this project?
• Crystals can be slow growing or fast, depending on the solution and the material, and, when they are done growing, they turn out beautifully! Crystals grow on different materials and tend to climb the thing they are put on.
• Do you have a new hypothesis? 
• Yes, I think so. Crystals are not a very reliable thing. They grow when they want, or so it looks like to me, and when they don't want to, they leave the person who is watching them everyday sad and unconfident. Probably, if I was a scientist, I would understand the crystals better and know why they don't grow sometimes, and sometimes they do. Maybe it's because of the temperature, or the solution, or the material they're growing on, or all three!Whatever it is, I hope to find it out one day!
• FURTHER INQUIRY
• What errors may have occurred in your garden?
• Maybe I didn't put enough solution on each of the things, and maybe I didn't have exactly the right materials. I'm sure there are more reasons, but my garden turned out pretty well, I think!
•  How would you change the experiment if you were to do it all over again?
• First, I would make a nicer, bigger, more colorful, and more-variety-of-materials garden so I could see how the solution would grow on other things. Next, when I am at school and choosing the solutions, I would take one cup of each so I would have a variety of different crystals. Next I would dip or pour a lot of solution on each thing so the crystals would grow faster and easier! Also, I wouldn't use so much food coloring because it is not really necessary! I think that would make the project work a lot better, and it would be a lot more beautiful!
• What further questions do you have about crystals and the conditions they need for growth?   
• I would really like to know if they just grew very difficultly on mine because there was not enough solution or because the materials were really bad. I think that's all though!

The only cotton ear cleaner were crystals grew!

The famous puffy stems which grew the best!

My whole crystal garden finally!

Birds eye view of my crystal garden!

My map with all the places I put crystals labeled on it!

Thank you for looking at my blog again and reading all my posts. I really appreciate it, and if you have any comments (good or bad) or questions please write some. Thank you again, Clare