Pouring crystals

Jennifer Atkins from Bayview Secondary School in Richmond Hill ON sent in these fun photos taken by her students during a lab. Jennifer describes the activity as follows. 

In small groups, my grade 11 students made supersaturated solutions with sodium acetate. Then in front of the class, each group took turns pouring their solutions into petri dishes with seed crystals (sodium acetate). The solutions solidified before their eyes. Students loved to do this demonstration. Although the solution is easy to make, it can be tricky to get just right.

pouring a white solution out of a flask in which the solution appears to be crystallizing

a small pile of white crystals in a petri dish