Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Try It Tuesday: Make Crystal Snowflakes

This is a fun & simple project that you start seeing results in a coupe of hours, although best results are if you wait for 24-48 hours before removing.

All you need is a glass jar, some borax, a pipe cleaner, hot water & a pencil.
The first step is to take your pipecleaner and twist it in to a snowflake (or any other shape you desire) and attach them to a pencil that you will balance over the top of the jar and keep it from falling in.


The second step is to put 3 T of borax in the bottom of a glass jar. Then add 1 cup of boiling water to the jar and stir until the borax is completely dissolved. If desired you could tint the mixture with some food coloring, but I don't find that necessary if you have colored pipe cleaners.

You final step is to insert your pipe cleaner sculpture and let it sit for 24-48 hours. You should start to see crystals forming after a few hours.

2 comments:

Sarah Osborne said...

How cool! I've never seen a science project like that.

Jen said...

Great idea, and simple! I think we'll try it tomorrow after school.