Silicate Gardens

Reach into your kit & pull out the bag that says Experiment 34. Take everything out of the bag and place in front of you. Then, put the bag back in the box.

Open the bottle of Sodium Silicate Solution and pour it all into your rectangle-shaped plastic container.

Next, refill the empty bottle of Sodium Silicate with cold water and pour it into your plastic container.

Grab the wooden mixer and stir the solution for 10 seconds to mix it together.

Now, grab the black sheet of paper and place it behind your plastic container by setting the container on one side and aligning the back so that it creates a dark background.

Next, place the four small medicine cups in front of you and grab the container of Magnesium Chloride Pellets and the blue scooper. Put 1 full scoop of pellets into each cup.

Now, pour water into each cup up to the 12.5 mL line then let them sit for 1 full minute.

Next, grab your wooden stirrer and gently mix the solution around in each cup to help it dissolve. Stir slowly so you do not to spill it.

Now, grab the pack of food coloring, and add 5 drops of color to each of the cups, making each one a different color.

First grab the pipette and dip it into the first cup of color and gently squeeze the pipette to mix the color together really well. Then, suck up as much as you can into your pipette, and place the tip on the bottom of your container of liquid. Squeeze to release the colored liquid as you slowly move the pipette upwards to create a piece of coral.

Once you are done with one color, you can move onto the next. Simply repeat the steps from before, first mixing the color together with the pipette, then drawing the color into your pipette, placing it on the bottom of your container and squeezing to release it as you build more pieces of coral.

Continue creating different color pieces of coral and experiment with different ways to make them. Try squeezing the liquid out of your pipette faster and slower or using different movements like back and forth or wiggling it around.

For the grand finale, take the rest of the Sodium Silicate pellets and pour them into your container of coral and watch to see what happens over the next 10-15 minutes. When you’re done, be sure to save the empty bottle for the next experiment.