This is why I hate science.
In North Little Rock, once you hit middle school, you are introduced to the joy of the science fair project. To be fair, Elizabeth has been very low key about the whole thing so far, in a good way – turning in her progress reports on time, picking a project right off the list, no going out on some crazy limb, etc.
At some point this morning we re-remembered that we needed to start the actual experiment today, since it is supposed to last a week and we leave town next Sunday. Nothing like waiting til the last minute. We specialize in that over here at the Jones house. Still, though, I was proud of my child selecting what seems like a relatively easy project – growing sugar crystals. We had sugar. We collected jars, popsicle sticks, and string today.
After we collected Will from a birthday party tonight, we came home to get the jars ready. You have to make sugar water, and then hang a string into it so the crystals can grow. No problem! I pull up the recipe on the handy dandy internets. Let’s go!
Step 1:Â Boil a cup of water.
Step 2:Â Pour it into a jar.
Step 3:Â Stir in 3 cups of sugar, I teaspoon at a time.
Hold it right there. Back up and read that again if it didn’t catch you the first time. Because it certainly didn’t catch me the first time. Have you ever tried to dissolve 3 cups of sugar into 1 cup of water? 1 tiny teaspoon at a time.
You haven’t? Well, let me tell you friend, it involves stirring. Lots and lots and lots and lots and LOTS of stirring. Stirring so that your hand feels like it’s about to fall off.
Did I mention there were 6 jars total? Let me put it this way: 18 CUPS OF SUGAR.
This is no sugar water. It’s Karo syrup. That me, and my three kids, are stirring. We’re not even going to talk about where their father was. We stirred for an hour and a half. We sang “Candy Girl” (Sugar…aww honey honey), we licked our fingers, we stuck to the counter and the floor, and we would still be stirring if wondermom hadn’t figured out a way to cheat the process a little bit and finish up the last couple of jars.
Ah, the gift of science. We learn something new every day…
interested in the cheating part…
still haven’t started.
ugh.
of course you’re interesting in the cheating part, berit…
actually, now i’m panicked that we’ve messed the whole thing up and that NO CRYSTALS WILL GROW. that however, is my typical response to life. so we’ll see.