Progress on the Sycamore Class Science Fair Project

Well, we are officially moving on to Phase II of our science fair experiment this week! The kids have been really excited about growing alum crystals, and asking some excellent questions along the way, like:

"Will the crystals disappear again?"

"How can we make them disappear?"

"What will happen if we use food coloring while growing our crystals?"

 To cultivate inquiry in the process, we decided to follow up on some of those questions by having them do some extra experimentation, rather than answer the questions directly. That is, after all, what makes a true scientist! Curiosity is key.

So, this week we will begin Phase II by exploring how, why, or even IF the crystals will grow in a more acidic solution than water (such as vinegar). And of course we'll probably throw in a bit of food coloring to boot!

Meanwhile, here are some photos we captured from Phase I of the experiment. The kids were so proud of their results!

The original alum -- KAl(SO4)-2 * 12H2O 

The original alum looks (and smells) a lot like sugar.

These are the seed crystals that are tied with dental floss
 and hanging from a pencil in the saturated alum solution.

The students were diligent about measuring the pH of their
solution on a daily basis.

An example of the end result-- an alum crystal that is re-
precipitated in the solution (it is actually an aluminum
hydroxide-- AlOH).