CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In this week’s Science Sunday, we’re showing the kiddos how to MAKE their own ornaments to put on the Christmas tree or decorate the house for the holidays!
What you’ll need:
Boiling water
Borax
Pipe cleaners
Ribbon or string
Popsicle sticks
Glass jar (mason jars are easiest because of their smaller openings)
Star-shape cookie cutter (any shape is usable but we found this to be the easiest)
Step 1: Pick your color pipe cleaner! Bend pipe cleaners around the cookie cutter to make star shapes.
Step 2: Tie ribbon or string around the pipe cleaner shape. You want the string to be about 8 inches but the length will depend on your jar. In theory, it’ll be long enough that it will hover right over the bottom of your jar when hanging from the popsicle stick, bringing us to step 3.
Step 3: Hang the ribbon or string around the popsicle stick from the mouth of your glass jar. Again, the bottom of your pipe cleaner shape should hover right above the bottom.
Step 4: Pour 2 cups of boiling water into a glass measuring cup.
Step 5: Add ½ cup of Borax and stir until the Borax is fully dissolved. Note: Borax is not safe for pets or kids to ingest.
Step 6: Watch the Borax crystals grow!
Note: for best results, leave for at least six hours or more, but I would suggest going back every hour or so. That way, you can watch the progress. :)
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How do crystals form in borax?
There are two parts here: water-soluble minerals and supersaturated solutions.
Borax is a soft crystal mineral that is water soluble, which means it can be dissolved in liquid.
With this experiment, we dissolve more borax than is allowed in hot water, meaning we are creating a supersaturated solution. A supersaturated solution is ‘a solution that contains more than the maximum amount of solute that is capable of being dissolved at a given temperature.’
Why is this important? Cold water won’t hold as much borax as hot water. As the supersaturated borax + water solution cools down, the borax will separate from the water and form crystals on whatever is placed in the solution.
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Contact Brittany Van Voorhees at bvanvoorhe@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.