Sunday 13 April 2014

The crystals that time forgot

Dd found an experiment in a science book and declared that she wanted to do it and I nearly fell off my chair.

This is the child whose only suggestions involve eating crackers and playing on the PC or having friends over. She is the child whose favourite phrase is 'can I go now' and who constantly asks 'what are we doing tomorrow' (because obviously today just isn't floating her boat).

So, despite having no brain cells after all the stress of art exams (see previous post), and therefore resistant to anything that required my interaction or attention, I felt compelled to say 'yes'.

The experiment, thankfully very simple, involved pouring in loads and loads and loads of salt into a glass of hot water until no more of the salt dissolved. Salt is one thing we have in our house since I over-purchased materials for making salt dough just before Christmas.

Sing along
Ba Ba home edder have you any salt?
Yes sir, yes sir, three cupboards' full. 
One for the salt dough, and one for the crystals,
and one for the future when we come up with some other vaguely educational idea and I go 'I've got just the thing for that'...




I decided to label the glass on both sides. Two reasons.
1) So no-one was tempted to think it was fruit squash and drink it and
2) so we could display the experiment on our windowsill for all passers by to see and wonder at the educationally educational education my kids were getting that theirs weren't. (Not that I'm smug or anything. I just like to wind up the neighbours.)

For anyone who hasn't seen previous photos posted on here, our lounge windowsill is a bit like Emily's shop window in Bagpuss. Except that in all these years no-one has ever come and claimed their items back.

You see, everything in that shop window was a thing that somebody had once lost and Emily had found and brought home to Bagpuss  http://www.smallfilms.co.uk/bagpuss/intro.htm







Yep. The crystals are going the way of the potatoes. A few more weeks and they'll have climbed their way out of the glass and be half-way across the lino to the front door.




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