• Clean Jar
• String (we prefer cotton)
• Scissors
• Tape (optional)
• Pencil
• 1-2 Cups boiling water (kids, get your parents help)
• 1-2 Cups table salt
• Notebook
• Camera (optional)

Step 1:  Boil the water and then transfer it to your clean jar.

Step 2:  Pour in enough salt to saturate the water.  Stir until all of the salt that can dissolve is dissolved.  If you see salt crystals in the bottom of your jar that will not dissolve then you have probably saturated your water and are ready for Step 3.

Step 3:  Tie a piece of string to a pencil and hang the string in the water.  Rest the pencil across the top of your jar and tape it in place if necessary.  Make sure that the string does not touch any of the salt at the bottom of the jar.

Step 4:  Leave the string in place over night.

Observe:

The next day, take the string out of the jar and observe if salt crystals have formed on the string.  Salt crystals may take some time to get large so if you want to grow large crystals, replace the salt water solution daily.  Don’t forget to document your experiment.   We would love to see photos of your crystals.  You are now a true Mini Me Geologist!

For more experiment and project ideas as well as word finds and cross word puzzles, check out the Dig Into Geology section of our website.

You may be surprised to learn of all of the different types of jobs that a geologist can have.  Geologists can work in many areas including:

Classic geology where you may work for the United States Geologist Survey or state agencies or private companies evaluate earthquakes or map areas to determine the types of rocks and formations.

Environmental geology where you may work for Federal or State agencies (like the US EPA) or private consulting firms and evaluate the quality of the soil and groundwater of an area.  If you find that the soil or groundwater quality is bad you may clean it up to make it safer for the people, animals and plants that live there.

Petroleum geology where you may work for an oil and gas company exploring oil and gas underground.

Teaching.  The United States is in need of great teachers who are trained in science at all age groups including elementary, middle and high school as well as college.

If you are interested in being a professional geologist get a basic geology degree and see what type of work you may be interested in doing.  Your general geology degree will be a great base for any of these jobs.  Later, you will figure out if you need more training at a graduate school or it you can learn everything else on the job. 

For more information on geology, please visit our website at www.MiniMeGeology.com