Lab Assistants Needed

Even though I had no intention of focusing on science class this year, it's actually played out quite differently! Last year for Christmas, Amana received a Smithsonian Crystal Growing Kit. Because I knew it would be a lot of work on my part, I kept putting it off. Well, she dug out the box again, and since the caterpillar-cocoon-moth project went so well, I thought "why not".


The night before we conducted the experiement, Amana came to me with question. She very sweetly asked, "Mom, do you think that you and Anlynn could be my assistants tomorrow for our experiment?" I was shocked and a little impressed that she even knew about lab assistants, so I said sure. Then the sweet little thing says, "Good! That way if I get hungry, you and Anlynn can get me food!" Okay, so she's confused lab assistant with "assistant to the stars"...oh well!

The experiement included crystal powder chemicals, boiling water, and base rocks. The crystal powder wouldn't dissolve, so I poured it back into the pan. As I turned on the burner I thought, "I wonder if this is okay? Surely they wouldn't put explosive or flamable chemicals in a kit for children, right? Oh dear, what if I blow my face off in front of Amana?!!" Okay, I got a little carried away, it was fine. Chemicals dissolved and we poured it onto the base rock without any trouble! The crystals have been growing for about a week. We've been checking it every few days. Today or tomorrow we'll remove the excess liquid and see if we have any crystals. Should be fun!