Growing salt crystals is an interesting classroom experiment you can use in schools and at home to teach students about saltwater evaporation and the formation of rock crystals in caverns. Once you've experimented with making basic salt and sugar crystals, you can form the crystals around cardboard designs, creating an entire garden of salt crystal trees that you can colorfully decorate with food coloring. You can even use them to create dioramas.
Instructions
1. Cut out two cardboard triangles approximately 6 inches high with a base approximately 4 inches wide. Make jagged cuts along the sides of the triangles to form an evergreen tree appearance.
2. Slit one triangle down the middle from the base to about 1/2 of an inch from the top. Cut the second triangle down the middle from the top to 1/2 of an inch from the base. Interlock the two pieces to create a three-dimensional tree that can stand on its own.
3. Mix together 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 cup of salt, 1/2 cup of Mrs. Stewart's Bluing softener and 1/4 cup of household ammonia. Stir all ingredients until thoroughly mixed.
4. Stand the cardboard tree up in a 4-qt. mixing bowl. Make sure it is level and upright, so it doesn't tip over when you pour in the mixture.
5. Pour the salt, ammonia, water and bluing mixture into the bottom of the bowl containing the cardboard tree so the cardboard can soak in the mixture.
6. Set the bowl somewhere it won't be disturbed. Early signs of crystal formation appear within the first two hours after the tree begins absorbing the mixture. Within 12 hours, solid-forming crystals appear on the outside of the cardboard tree frame, creating crystallized foliage.
7. Continue adding fullness to the tree by encouraging more blooming crystals. Add more of the salt, ammonia, water and bluing mixture to the bowl to increase the amount of crystals forming on the tree.
Tags: cardboard tree, ammonia water, ammonia water bluing, approximately inches, bluing mixture