Fun Science Projects

Juliet Slater and Katelin VonFeldt

  1.  First gather all your ingredients and tools. You will need  water, sugar, a clothespin, a pot for boiling, food coloring,  and a few wooden sticks to grow rock candy crystals.

 

  1.  Bring two cups of water to a boil in a large pot on the stove. Next, stir in four cups of sugar. Boil and continue stirring until sugar appears dissolved. This creates a supersaturated sugar solution. Allow the solution to cool for 15-20 minutes. 

 

  1. While waiting for the solution to cool, prepare your wooden sticks for growing the rock crystals. Wet the wooden sticks and roll them around in granulated sugar. Make sure you allow the sugared sticks to completely dry before continuing to Step 4. You’ll need one stick per jar.

 

  1. Once the sugar solution is cool, add in food coloring to create rock candy of your preferred color. Leave this step out for clear-colored crystals. 

 

  1. Pour the cooled solution into a glass jar and insert the sugar covered wooden stick into the center of the glass. Make sure that the stick is not touching any part of the jar. Once in place, secure the stick in place using a clothespin. Cover the top of the glass with a paper towel. You may have to poke a hole in the paper towel for the wooden stick to poke through.  

 

  1. Lastly place the glass in a cool and quiet place. Loud noises and a lot of movement can disturb the crystal making process. Every day, the candy crystals will grow larger. They will reach their maximum growth potential by two weeks. When you have a good amount of rock candy crystals, remove the stick and place it on a sheet of wax paper to dry before eating!

 

Sources:

https://mommypoppins.com/kids/how-to-make-rock-candy-with-kids