Hope you enjoy this borax crystal geode tutorial!
With the boys back in public school, and with our long commute time to and from school, it is not often we have the time to do science projects anymore. But the creative juices just can’t be stifled for long, and we were itching to do something creative.
My boys are obsessed with geodes right now. So obsessed, in fact, that whenever they find large rocks the first thing they want to do is smash them open to see if there are crystals inside.
We’d never experimented with borax crystals before so I picked up some borax while I was at the grocery store and did a YouTube search for Borax Crystal Geodes. Inspired by a great tutorial by Emmymade, I set out to make our own Borax Crystal Geodes.
This Borax Crystal Geode Experiment is perfect for both after school fun and for homeschool science lessons!
Check out our Borax Crystal Geode video tutorial and then download the facts and worksheets below.
*One note of caution: If you are doing your borax crystal geode on the stovetop, do not reuse the water from your last crystal. Inhaling the steam from the borax water solution can be very harmful.
Just to be on the safe side, I wipe the microwave down with a wet rag after I microwave the borax water solution.
So, just how does this Borax Crystal Geode project actually work?
As the water is heated to boiling the water molecules begin to more faster and farther apart from one another. When the borax is added to the boiling water it dissolves into the solution. Because of the water molecules are moving faster and farther apart from one another, you can dissolve more borax solution into boiling water than you can to cool or room temperature water. When no more of the borax can dissolve into solution, the mixture has become saturated.
As the mixture cools, the water molecules slow down and move closer together again. As a result, there is less space in the solution for the dissolved borax. This process, called precipitation, makes the formation of crystals. You’ll notice in the YouTube tutorial, the crystals formed anywhere they could find a surface including the inside of the glass bowl. As the water continues to cool and evaporate, crystals build on one another and the crystal construction becomes larger.
And, just for fun, I made a few fun Borax Crystal Science printable worksheets:
Included are: Borax Crystal Science Word Search, Fun Facts about Borax Crystals, and a Hypothesis & Observation writing worksheet.
Good luck! And, have fun making your borax crystal geodes!
About Amy @ Oh So Savvy Mom
