Making Crystals

In Science we have been learning about the importance of asking questions and conducting tests to find answers. The most common questions we have asked begin with "Why?" or "What if?"

Last Wednesday we asked some "What if..." questions.

Our goal was to make snow flake crystals using the household cleaning product Borax and pipe cleaners.
First we made a snow flake using pipe cleaners, then mixed the Borax with boiling water.

 We asked "What if we use tap water instead of boiling water?' Nine children thought crystals would form in cold water and six children thought crystals would not form in cold water.

The Borax did not dissolve fully in cold water, but it did in the boiling water.
We lowered the white snow flake into the jar that contained the boiling water and the pink snow flake into the jar that contained the cold water.

The next day a few crystals started to form in the jar with the white snow flake but nothing really happened to the pink one.

We did get some crystals but they did not form a snow flake as we had hoped. I believe it was due to the amount of water in the jar. We will repeat this experiment using plastic cups in a few week's time.