Grow, Glow & Show Crystal Science: Experiment 1

Crystal Growing Kit for Kids

Welcome all young scientists! The world of crystal growing is at your fingertips. The Grow, Glow, & Show Crystal Science Kit will inspire young ones to engage with the world around us with STEM activities that revolve around crystals!  

What is a Crystal?

A crystal is a solid, formed by a substance hardening. With our experiments, the hardening will occur from evaporation or liquid cooling. As the liquid substance is hardening, the atoms in the liquid will cling to each other in a geometric pattern and a crystal is formed. 

Experiment 1 - The Cooling Effect

1. Since crystal can be formed from a liquid substance being cooled, let’s test out different recipes to see which liquid cools off the best. For this experiment, you’ll need the kit, the beaker, three Petri dishes, the plastic spoon, and urea. From home, grab salt, sugar, tape, and a marker

2. Label each Petri dish with the tape and maker 1 - 3 and fill each dish with 15mL of water. TIP: Place your beaker on the table to determine if you’ve reached the mark! Eye-balling the water will more than likely be off. Seeing the water line while the cup rests on the table will provide a more accurate reading. 

3. With the plastic measuring spoon, scoop 3-5 servings of sugar into Petri dish 1. 

4. Scoop 3-5 spoonfuls of urea into Petri dish 2. Did you know? This urea is synthetically made and is also called carbamide and is often used as a fertilizer. 

5. And last, but not least, add 3-5 teaspoons of salt to Petri dish 3. It may make a mess, so I suggest cleaning up as you go along (as you can see from my  messy table!)

6. Now that the dishes have their ingredients, use the yellow spoon to stir the individual substances until it dissolves. TIP: Clean the spoon in between each stirring.

7. Time for testing and observations! Hold one hand out flat, palm facing up. Carefully lift each Petri dish and place it in your hand.  Do this one at a time with each dish. Do you notice the temperature difference? Which one is the coldest? 

8. Record your findings in your Scientific Notebook! These observations may come useful for our other experiments! 

See how the experiment looks from start to finish in the video below.

Participate in the experiment yourself with the Grow Glow & Show Crystal Science Kit!