Hannah's Crystal Gardenhttp://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=228243549219344671&postID=3969474252653282803

Day 1 Wednesday Jan 26th 2011

On day 1 I had my garden all ready to put the solution on. My garden has lots of blue, white and sparkles. It looks wintry. But in stead of walking in a winter wonderland. It is going to be walking in crystal wonderland. So I put my solution on my garden. It was just salt solution. Some of it was blue and the other color was clear. When I was putting on some of the solution it went on the ground of my garden. But I didn't plan that so it is going to be lots of crystals!

Day 2 Thursday Jan 27th 2011

on the second day crystals have already started growing. On the tooth picks where I put some of the solution on has tiny little bits that you can hardly see but can feel. On the cotton buds were I put solution as well is growing faster. I can feel the cotton buds and they are hard and have bumps of crystals on them. I also put some solution on the little bridge where the hand railing is. I can see that it is starting to grow there as well. And the ground of my garden is covered in crystals! I think this is going to be a good garden!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 5 Monday Jan, 31th 2011
On the weekend the crystals grew more. The crystals are growing a lot on the tape and the gems and beads holding up the trees and tooth picks. But they are not growing very well on the tooth picks and some of the cotton buds. So today I have put on some more solution.

For the cotton bud trees they are not growing so much on the cotton but it is growing a lot on the tape that is holding the cotton buds together and it is growing quit a lot on the pebbles.

The cotton bud flowers are not growing much as well. You can see a few little bits of crystal but hardly any. But they are very hard.

The bridge is doing okay. I put a bit of solution on the bridge handles and it is already stated growing! And the little center thing is doing really good as well. The tooth pick on top is growing way better than the other tooth picks. And when I was putting the solution on it. It can flowing down in the sides and onto the gravel. So crystals are starting to grow on the whole thing and bits of the gravel so it is a bit like a blue volcano.
And lastly the tooth picks. The tooth picks I feel as if they are just not trying! I put quit a lot of solution on them but do they grow, no. They have a few little dots on there but nothing much. When I was putting the solution onto the tooth picks it just slid down and went down to the floor. So now almost every bit of floor is covered in crystal. So this is defiantly a crystal garden!Last Day! Day 11th February 2011

This will be the last time I will be doing my blog for my crystal garden. These are my observations.My materials that I used for my crystal garden did not change there look. Of course they had crystals growing on them but the style did not change. But almost all the materials I used got much harder.

Data Analysis

What material did the crystals grow best on? Worst on?

I think the crystals grew the best on the cotton buds. But it was manly the ones that had the blue dye on it and it was just salt. Why I think I think it grew best on the cotton buds is because I think that because they are so fluffy it soaks up all the solution. And because I spilled the solution on the ground which was made out of paper. So now the ground of my crystal garden is covered in a thin layer of crystal. And one part of my garden where I put lots of solution it grew so much probably the most out of all the crystals. And the last thing that my crystals grew best on was the little stones and beads that I used to hold up the trees and plants. What the crystals grew worst on was the big long tooth picks. Hardly any crystal was growing on there. I up lots of solution on it but it just slipped off and didn't soak in.

What solution was the easiest to grow crystals from?

Well for my garden I used 2 different types of solution Epsom salts and salt. Out of the two the salt was the best. I used salt for the cotton buds and on the ground, it grew very fast. I think why the salt was the best is because for a start it was just normal salt. Where as Epsom salts have a few different types of things inside.

What solution grew crystals the slowest or most difficult?

The worst solution was the Epsom salt. I put it on the tooth picks and it took so long for them to grow. But they also hardly grew! You could see only tiny little bits on the tooth picks but it took that long for that to happen in a week. And I also had put a lot on them but they just didn't grow.

Which method was best for growing crystals?

I think the solution that is really good is salt solution because crystals already started to grow later on in the day when I had put the solution on. And for the materials that I used them on you should use fluffy and things that the solution can soak into.

Conclusions

What can you conclude about the conditions that are needed for crystals to grow? Give examples from evidence you have seen from either your garden or classmate's gardens. What have you learned about crystals during this project? Do you have a new hypothesis?

For a crystal to grow it has to be in the middle. So some sun and some shade. For example some parts of my garden was in the sun so some parts of my garden wasn't really growing because the solution was all soaked up. And some parts were in the middle so it kept the solution nice and damp still, where my crystals grew best. But You really do need to have it balanced. Also what you put it on helps with this because that way your crystals can grow better. For example some of my classmates who put there solution on fluffy and things that the solution could sink into grew well. But some other who didn't have that material, some of there crystals did not grow so well. Like me with the tooth picks.

One of the things that I have learned about crystals is that they can really grow on almost anything you just need to make sure it is even where you put your garden. So I think that a basic solution just might be the best. You might have a better chance of growing crystals.

Further Inquiry

What errors may have occurred in your garden? How would you change the experiment if you were to do it all over again? What further questions do you have about crystals and the conditions they need for growth?

Some of the errors that have occurred in my garden is what I put my solution onto and what type I use. If I had to do my project all over again I would have better materials for my crystals to grow on like balls of fluff and also maybe solution in a cup because almost all the solutions and grow really well in the cups. But I will definitely not use tooth picks. I will also try sugar crystals next time because some people in my class who used sugar crystals they grew really well. One question that I wonder about is why do the grow on so many things but not simple things like tooth picks or bits of plastic?

Volcanoes and Earthquakes

1. What I have learned about volcanoes.

One of the things that I know is that scientists can drill a hole into the earth and get out samples of volcanoes. Some volcanoes are made by lava making its way to the surface. How volcanoes are formed is when the pressure builds up in a certain place it pushes to the surface forming a volcano. There are fields and fields of lava. Some cooled some boiling! Volcanoes can make lava fuels. Also some plants grow beneath layers of ash. A volcano that hasn't erupted for 2,000 years is dormant.
Why people study volcanoes is because this is one of the things that help us learn more about the earth.

2. What I would like to know more about.

The question that I would like to have an answer to is how do people know about the inside of our earth? How do they know that this is what volcanoes do? this is what I would like to know.


Volcanoes and Earthquakes

We had to find out about where volcanoes and earthquakes are in the world. Here are some questions and answers about it.

1. Is there a pattern in the locations of earthquakes and volcanoes?

Well at first I thought no and yes because in the chart that shows you where to find them on the map some a close and some are far apart. The when I put them on the map I saw that most of them are in patterns so my answer is they are in patterns.

2. How are the earthquakes on the map? are they scattered or are they concentrated in zones?

I would say that they are scattered all over the place because there are some down the bottom quiet a lot in the middle and there are a few on the top.

3.From your data, what can you infer about the relationship between earthquakes and volcanoes?

I think in some ways they are alike. First they are both caused by the tectonic plate. Second they both sort of start from under the ground. They are sort of like brother and sister.

4. Suppose you added the locations of additional earthquakes and volcanoes to your map. Would the overall pattern of earthquakes and volcanoes change? Explain what you think?

Well for a start there will defiantly be more volcanoes and earthquakes. But for some reason I still think it will stay in a pattern. The earthquake and volcanoes on the map are in a pattern so I don't see why it would change.

And lastly I have a question. Why are volcanoes and earthquakes next to one another?

About our Earth

I was told to go to a certain website and to find facts and write down notes about the earth. The information that I had to find out about was Inner Earth, Volcano's, Rocks, Mining, Gems and Minerals, and the Plate Tectonics. So I will use these notes and tell you about our earth.

The Inner Earth

The inner earth is layered. There are 5 layers. The inner core is the hottest. Its core is hotter then the surface of the sun. During earths first 100 million years, even larger particles in the solar system collided and stuck together making lots and lots of heat! Earths accreted, the melted completely, and layers began to form.

* molten iron sank and created the core.
* liquid rose and cooled, forming the mantle.
* Later partial melting of the mantle produced the crust.

Volcano's

All volcanoes share the same trait: They grow by ejecting lava or hot rock. There are three different types of things Magma, Lava, Tephra and what is what? Aren't they all the same? Well they are parctically all the same but they have different names for different times. Magma is molten rock below the ground. It has liquids, suspended crystals, and gases. Lava is magma that erupts non-explosively. Tephra is when magma erupts-large bombs, small cinders, pumice, and ash.

Volcanic eruptions are done by the same energy as the earths plates. Volcanoes are usually at places where heat can escape from the earth. Some volcanoes are large and some are small. Some volcanoes cones are steep others are gentle.

The size of the volcano depends on how long they live and how much magma comes out of the volcano. The shape of the volcano depends on how sticky or viscous the magma is. Viscous lava builds steep cones. And fluid lavas build gently sloping cones. The explosive of the volcano depends on how much gas the magma contains and how easily gas can escape.



Plate Tectonics

Under the earths crust the earth is reshaping itself very slowly this is what we call the plate tectonics. Those plates separate and collide making earthquakes, making volcanoes erupt, and making mountains form.




Rocks at earths surface



We use about three billion tons of crushed stone, sand and gravel every year. An average new house in the U.S. is with about 400 tons of sand, gravel, and crushed stone ( mostly limestone). Through history rocks have been the type of things we use to build cities. For example, Egypt's pyramids, Taj Mahal in India, and New York's Empire State building. Also water is the one that helps and makes rocks do there journey in the rock cycle.

Rocks below Earths surface

Like ice rocks melt too. Bit it is different because ice melts at thirty two Fahrenheit. But rocks melt at a hundred degrees. And that is because the minerals in rocks melt in different temperatures. Rocks can be pushed, pulled, squeezed, and sheared. Rocks can deform during earthquakes, mountains building, and other events caused by the tectonic plates.

The Unreachable Frontier

In 1990 the worlds deepest drill hole penetrated to a depth of 12.3 km. More than 99 percent of the distance to earths center still lays beneath the drill bit. To find out about the inside of our earth Geologists gather clues from meteorites, rocks, diamonds, earthquake waves, and earths magnetic field.

Chondrites are an an original dust of the solar system. These 97 elements makeup 97 percent of both chonfrites and earth. Earths crust and mantle are poor iron. We can learn about the inner earth from special rocks called peridotites which comes from the upper mantle. Most peridotites are olive green.


Mining

Dynamic Natural forces have rocks and minerals that make it easier to get with in human reach.


Gems and Minerals

Nearly 4,000 kinds of minerals that could be cut into a gemstone. Only about 15 different minerals are used for gem stones. Minerals are the very building block of the universe. Minerals makeup the earth. Some people have realize that heavily on minerals resources. You may use minerals more than you imagine.

The earth's layers and caves

1. What I already know and what I have learned this week.

What I know is that the earth has four layers. The crust, mantle, outer core, and the inner core. The crust the the layer that we live on. I also know that the inner core is very, very, very hot! The crust is a thin layer it is a bit like a layer of skin but it isn't all in one piece. It is more like lots of puzzle pieces. We call these puzzle pieces the tectonic plates. These plates sometimes bump and push against one another which forms an earthquake. It can also form mountains. I also know about some of the rocks and minerals. Some of the minerals and rocks that i know are, Quartz, Pyrite, Jade, Pumic, Granite, Marble, Sandstone, and Obsidian. You can see some of these rocks in certain places. For example sometimes if there are cliffs near the beach you can see Sandstone. Or some statues are Marble. They have lots of Marble in Greece and Rome. My favorite rock is Pumic because Pumic floats on water. I have also learned about caves this week. One of the things that i have learned is that lots of different animals live in caves. All the way from bears and bats, to bugs and insects. I never knew that many animals would live in there.



2. What I want to know.

What I would like to know more about is the earths layers because I don't know that much about it. I would a also like to know a about volcanoes. And I would like to know some more facts about rocks and minerals. And lastly I would like to know more about caves.