Crystal Rock Candy

• Help students make their own crystal sugar for a science project. Take two pieces of yarn and two glass jars. Immerse one of the strings in a cup of water for five minutes and roll the string in a tablespoon of sugar to coat the string. Place the sugar-coated string and the non-sugar-coated string on a piece of wax paper for 12 hours. Take the strings and tie a screw to one end. Tie the other end of the strings to a Popsicle stick. Mark the Popsicle stick of the string with the sugar. Hang the strings in the jar with the screw end at the bottom. Preheat the glass jars and add boiling water to each jar. Create a sugar-water solution with boiling water and cane sugar. Make sure that the cane sugar is dissolved and pour out the water from the jars and add the cooled down sugar solution. Allow the solution and strings to sit. Observe and record results on a daily basis for a week and watch the rock candy form.
  
  

Quick-Growing Crystals

• Grow crystals in a few hours for a science project using Epsom salt and food coloring. Stir 1/2 cup of Epsom salt in 1/2 cup of hot tap water. Dissolve the salt to create a solution. Add two drops of food coloring. Place the solution in the refrigerator for three hours. You should have a beaker full of crystals. Remember to pour out the remaining solution. Record the results and have students take some pictures for their project.
  
  

Crystal Gardens

• Encourage students to create a garden full of crystals for a science project using sponges. Obtain three dry sponges and arrange them on a pie plate. Create a solution of salt, water, bluing and ammonia and pour the mixture over the sponges. Make sure to pour evenly. Take drops of food coloring and drop over the sponges in a random motion. Let the pie pan sit for a week. Observe, record and take pictures of the results on a daily basis. Watch the crystal garden grow.
  
  

Grow a Crystal of Potassium Alum

• Potassium alum, otherwise known as potash alum, is soluble in water and is capable of crystallizing. For this project, students need to obtain powdered form of Potash Alum and dissolve it through heating in a beaker full of distilled water. After the powder material has dissolved and settled, crystals will begin to form. Once you see crystals forming at the bottom of the beaker, pour the liquid into another beaker. Take the crystal and hand it from a glass rod using a piece of string. Remember to observe and record all of the results. Take pictures of the project. In addition, monitor, observe and record the results for a week. You can even immerse the crystal in the remaining potash alum solution daily to increase the growth of the crystal.