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?