The Adventures of Dot and Mae

Hello, Dear Readers! Today, Dot and Mae want to tell you about a good friend of theirs named Elsa. She is a Troll Girl who lives clear across the house, near the computer. She is a very friendly troll and Dot and Mae go to visit her whenever they have time. Elsa likes to be very active and her favorite sport is tennis, which she has taught Dot and Mae to play. Dot and Mae are not too bad at playing tennis, but Elsa plays them two against one and she can always win if she wants to, but she goes easy on Dot and Mae because she knows they are just beginners. Perhaps you’ve noticed that Elsa doesn’t wear any clothes? That’s just how her troll culture is - clothes are optional, and when Elsa plays tennis, she feels that the clothes just get in the way. (She has a cute belly button though, doesn’t she!

Elsa grew up in a place with lots of caves and mountains. A lot of trolls lived where she was born. Some trolls that you have read about in books are quiet nasty creatures, like the troll who lived under the bridge in the book “Three Billy Goats Gruff.” Well, Elsa wants you to know that trolls are just like humans and some are bad and some are good. Elsa is a very pleasant troll, she is very kind and loves to play and have fun. She’s another good example of how you cannot judge a book by its cover!

Dot and Mae brought some of their rock animals to show Elsa. They knew she would like them because she grew up in a place that was filled with lovely rocks, and waterfalls, and trees. Elsa loves to be outside and playing in the dirt! This suits Dot and Mae just fine! When Elsa saw the rock creatures she got a great idea - she wanted to show Dot and Mae how to grow crystals. Crystals are a kind of rock that grows from minerals, sometimes in caves. Here is how Elsa taught Dot and Mae to grow crystals in case you would like to grow some for yourself:

If you are a kid, get an adult to help you. If you are an adult, get a kid to help you.

Grow Alum Crystals

You will need:

• One ounce of alum (you can buy alum in the grocery store in the spice section. It is used for making pickles crispy. An ounce is about 2 1/2 tablespoons, but you won’t need all of it, just what will dissolve in the solution)
• 1/2 cup hot water from the faucet, not boiling water
• sewing thread or nylon thread (cotton is easier to tie, but will grow crystals along its length, nylon won’t)
• 2 clean jars or cups
• a spoon for stirring
• a popcicle stick, flat plastic knife, or pencil to suspend your crystal
• coffee filter to act as a dust cover

Step 1.
Add the alum slowly to the cup of hot water. Stir in all the alum that the water will dissolve, not the whole ounce. Cover loosely with the coffee filter to keep out dust. Let the cup sit overnight.

Step 2.
On the next day, pour the alum water into the other empty cup. A few chunks or crystals of solid alum will have formed in the bottom of the jar. These pieces will be your “seeds” to start the new crystal. Tie a piece of thread around the largest, best formed crystal, and then tie the other end of the thread to the middle of the stick. A slip knot works well, and tying the knot on the crystal is the hardest part of this whole procedure. Suspend the seed in the alum water, with the stick resting across the jar of solution. The seed should dangle in the alum water. Cover loosely with the coffee filter.

Step 3.
Look at your experiment a couple of times a day. What is happening? If crystals start forming in the bottom of your jar of solution, remove your stick and carefully pour or spoon the alum water into another clean jar, being very careful not to let the crystals on the bottom get into your other jar. They will also act as seeds, and will keep your big crystal from growing.

Here is website where you can learn to grow crystal gardens. You can buy the bluing at many grocery stores in the laundry soap section.

Here is another cool thing you can do to grow crystals: make ROCK CANDY!

Here is the thing about making rock candy - YOU MUST DO THIS WITH AN ADULT!

Dot and Mae know you are very clever and talented, but the rock candy is made with extremely hot syrup. If the syrup gets on your skin it burns very badly and it keeps burning because it sticks to the skin and is hard to get off, so please be extremely careful when you make this - make sure you have a big person helping you! This is a great recipe from the Science of Cooking:

What Do I Need?

• 4 cups sugar

• 2 cups water
• a small saucepan
• a wooden spoon
• a candy thermometer
• a small, clean glass jar
• a measuring cup
• cotton string
• a weight to hang on the string (such as a screw or galvanized washer)
• waxed paper
• a pencil (to suspend the string in the jar)

What Do I Do?

Did You Know?
Rock candy is one of the oldest and purest forms of candy. It was originally used by pharmacists to make medicines for many kinds of illnesses.

1. Heat the water in the saucepan over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil.

2. Completely dissolve the sugar in the boiling water, stirring continuously with the wooden spoon until the solution grows clear and it reaches a rolling boil.

3. Remove the solution from the heat, and then carefully pour it into the jar. Cover the jar with a small piece of waxed paper.

4. Tie the weight to one end of the string, and then tie the other end to the middle of the pencil. The string should be about two-thirds as long as the jar is deep. Dip the string into the sugar solution, remove it, lay it on a piece of waxed paper, straighten it out, and let it dry for a few days.

5. Gently suspend the prepared string in the solution and let sit at room temperature, undisturbed, for several days. You can check each day to see how much your crystals have grown. It’s tempting, but don’t touch the jar until the experiment is finished—it usually takes about seven days.

6. At the end of the week, the crystals on your string should be clearly defined, with sharp right angles and smooth faces of various sizes. In the field of crystallography, these are called monoclinic crystals. Their shape is determined by the way the individual sugar molecules fit together, which is similar to the way the shape of a pile of oranges is determined by the shape of the individual oranges and the way they stack together.

What Else Can I Try? .

• Try adding food coloring or flavoring to your sugar syrup before making the rock candy.