Alpha science classroom：Ho to make crystal egg geodes

Every Easter, children's favorite is to make a special Easter egg, every year to make a different egg, children soon run out of ideas, children want a unique Easter egg? Today, Alpha Science Classroom taught kids how to make crystal egg geodes. Come on in for this special Easter Science Experiment, have fun with science, and get a special Easter Crystal egg Geodes.

Alpha science classroom：Crystal Egg Geodes for Easter

1 empty (blown) eggshell

Pointed scissors

Glue

Paintbrush

Alum (6+ Tbs. per color)

2 plastic or glass cups

food coloring

1 cup very hot water

2-3 cup size bowl

Spoon

Rubber type gloves (to keep your hands from being dyed)

 Paper towels

Alpha Science Classroom: Methods of making Easter crystal egg geodes

StepsOne：First take your empty eggshell and divide it into, two pieces, lengthwise.  I took a pair of pointed scissors and started cutting down one side from the hole at one end to the hole at the other end.  The other side just broke in half when I pulled the two sides apart.  Don’t worry about straight edges.  Geodes don’t often have straight edges, so there won’t need straight edges either.  Make sure each eggshell half is clean and dry. Children should make sure that half of each shell is clean and dry

Steps Two：kids Squirt a little glue into each shell half，and use the paintbrush to spread the glue all over the inside of the eggshell.  Sprinkle alum crystals (powder) all over the glue.  Let this dry for several hours.  The alum crystals in the glue provide the “seeds” for the crystals to grow on.  “Seeds” are a NEED in all crystal growing situations.

Steps Three：Kids Lay each shell half in the bottom of its plastic or glass cup, with the cut/seeded side up.

Steps Four：kids need Put 1 cup of water in the bowl.  This water needs to be hot.  As you heat the water, it is better able to absorb more medium, so you keep adding heat to the water and you keep stirring in more medium until it just can’t hold any more, then the solution is called “superly saturated”.  A supersaturated alum solution is what we are after.  So I heated the water for 1 minute in the microwave.

Steps Five: kids can add a color pellet, Alpha choose pretty orange. and then kids slowly added 6 tablespoons of alum, stirring as I went, (it bubbled a little at first) the goal being to dissolve all the alum; This means there are no crystals at the bottom of the bowl.

Steps Six: kids stirred for what seems like FOREVER yet you still have crystals in the bottom of the bowl, put the solution in the microwave for 30 more seconds, and stir again.  That should do the trick.  Let the solutions sit at least 15 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.  You need your solution to be cool enough to handle, yet if you wait too long your crystals will start falling out of the solution into the bottom of the bowl and not into your eggshells.

Steps Seven: kids pour half of your solution over each egg half ( again it fuzzed a little, I think it was a reaction between the Calcium carbonate in the shell and the alum, please don't make me balance an equation to figure this out), and set aside for 15 + hours.  Alum is great for this project because it is non-toxic, and it makes great crystals in very little time (compared to a week or more for salt or sugar crystals).

Steps Eight: kids Using a spoon, remove each egg shell from the solution.  Pour off any extra solution and place the egg geode on some paper towels to dry. One thing alpha science toys noticed was that the dye was mainly absorbed by the eggshell, not by the crystals.  Yet the crystals are transparent enough that they reflect the color.  Soooooo Cool!

Kids assemble crystal Egg Geodes for Easter in a tray to show off to family and friends!

Alpha Science Classroom: Crystal growing science information

Alpha Science Toys believes that  Crystal growing is a neat chemistry project that is a quick set up involving liquids, solids, and soluble solutions.

You are making a saturated solution with more power than the liquid can hold. The hotter the liquid, the more saturated the solution can become. This is because the molecules in the water move farther apart allowing more of the powder to be dissolved.

As the solution cools down there are all of a sudden going to be more particles in the water as the molecules move back together. Some of these particles will start to fall out of the suspended state they were once in.

The particles will start to settle on the eggshells and form crystals. This is called recrystallization. Once a tiny seed crystal is started, more of the falling material bonds with it to form bigger crystals.

Crystals are solid with flat sides and symmetrical shape and will always be that way (unless impurities get in the way). They are made up of molecules and have a perfectly arranged and repeating pattern. Some might be bigger or smaller though.

Well, the children's scientific experiment activity that made Crystal egg geodes in the Alpha Science classroom is over. Children can make their own Crystal egg geodes according to the steps. In the process of learning simple chemical science knowledge, they can enjoy the fun brought by it, which makes the making of Easter eggs more magical.

For kids who want to explore more of the secrets of growing crystals, check out the alpha Science Toys website to find the most amazing growing crystal kit, find more ways to make growing crystals, and create your own crystal world!