Published on Sep 28, 2024
Materials
• 3 clean, dry sponges
• Aluminum pie plate or cake pan
• Glass measuring cup
• 1/4 cup table salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup laundry bluing (You can buy bluing at the grocery store under the brand name of Mrs. Stewart’s Liquid Bluing.)
• 2 tablespoons household ammonia
• Mixing bowl
• Metal spoon
• Blue and green food colouring
1. Arrange the sponges in the pie plate. (You can cut the sponges to fit in the pie plate if needed.)
2. Pour the salt, water, bluing, and ammonia into the mixing bowl and stir well to mix.
3. Pour this mixture over the sponges and then spoon out the rest of the thick portion, spreading it out evenly over the sponges.
4. Sprinkle drops of food colouring randomly on the sponges.
5. Let the pan sit. It may take hours or even days to see the results.
In a crystal, atoms or molecules join together in a pattern that repeats itself over and over to create a certain shape. A crystal grows by adding atoms or molecules to all its sides in the exact same pattern as the atoms and molecules that were added before.