Crystal Unit Study

We’re loving the lessons in Apologia Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics! 

Snow

We’ve been blessed (ahem) with an abundance of snow…that refuses to melt and go away.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7

We went on a snowy nature hike to view the snow formations.

We saw icy snow, fluffy soft snow, ice, and the pond was frozen! We saw the patterns in the snowdrifts from the wind. We haven’t been able to view too many snowflakes this year, but we have pictures and we’ve seen the crystal formations in the ice on our sidewalks and windows.

Salt

The kids were really fascinated by salt.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot…” Matthew 5:13

We went to Dad’s lab to use the cool microscope! (ah, the benefits of having a lab officer husband!)

We viewed table salt, salt we found at the Great Salt Lake (in the yellow bucket), raw sugar, and pepper.

The table salt is processed so it formed almost perfect cuboids with few impurities, but the salt from the Great Salt Lake was all jagged and had lots of impurities, as did the raw sugar. The pepper was too opaque to see real well.

Our Sunday School teacher taught on covenant and salt a couple weeks ago and she mentioned a great experiential lesson about making pickles, so we plan to buy some cucumbers and discuss how the salt changes them into a new creation – along with Matthew 5:13.

Gems

We looked at pictures of different precious stones online and in books and viewed the few rings, earrings, and pendants I have with magnifying glasses to see the facets.

I would love to take a field trip to a jewelry store or mine, but that will have to wait. I don’t feel comfortable taking them to a jewelry store I don’t know and the local mines are closed for the season. So, we’ll plan on that later.

Blessed are those who find wisdom,
those who gain understanding,
for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold.
She is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her. Proverbs 3:13-15

Choose my instruction instead of silver,
knowledge rather than choice gold,
for wisdom is more precious than rubies,
and nothing you desire can compare with her.  Proverbs 8:10-11

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. Proverbs 31:10

The girls really loved my grandmother’s ruby ring. I thought it a perfect teaching prop for the Bible lessons in Proverbs too.

The girls learned the 4 C’s: cut, color, clarity, and carat. They loved learning about the different grades of jewels.

They love the Junior Notebooking Journals that make assessment easy for me.

They drew jewels and the salt images from the microscope viewing in their notebooks. They love science!

We have some other fun experiments in the works this week – rock candy, salt flowers, borax crystals.

Linking up at Living and Learning at Home,  Chesnut Grove Academy, Suzy Homeschooler, Kids Activities Blog