Each group needs:

• hot plate
• 250 mL beaker
• 4 x 400 mL beaker
• glass stirring rod
• digital scale/balance (will need to be accurate to 0.01 g for best results)
• weigh boats (to keep solution off scale)
• 500 mL (~20 oz.) distilled water (250 mL per day – see Procedure section)
• 500 g (~20 oz.) pickling salt OR 500 g (~20 oz.) sugar (250 g per day – see Procedure section)
• teaspoon or small spoon
• skewer
• 2 pieces of 6 cm x 12 cm (~2” x 5”) cheese cloth (1 cloth piece per day – see Procedure section)
• 2 potholders
• apron for each team member
• gloves for each team member
• safety glasses for each team member

Optional (these can improve aspects of the activity, but are not necessary)

• aluminum foil (to cover experiments, prevent dust)
• clothespins (if needed to securely attach cloth to skewer)
• paper clips (if needed to ensure cloth hangs straight down)
• mason jars (used if students are taking their experiments home)
• towel (to wrap around 400 mL beaker to help the solution cool slowly and improve crystal growth; only needed for a few hours)

For the entire class to share:

• sticky notes
• pack of 20 white candles (sized 4-inch tall x ½ inch diameter, or similar)
• container of petroleum jelly skin protectant
• 500 mL Calcium Chloride Solution, 0.1 M Aqueous, Laboratory Grade (https://www.flinnsci.com/calcium-chloride-solution-0.1-m-500-ml/c0234/)
• 500 mL Magnesium Sulfate Solution, 0.5 M (https://www.flinnsci.com/magnesium-sulfate-solution-0.5-m-500-ml/m0167/) OR Unscented Epsom salt (a small 3 lb bag will be plenty) and 500 mL distilled water
• 500 mL Sodium Carbonate Solution, 0.1 M (https://www.flinnsci.com/sodium-carbonate-solution-0.1-m-500-ml/s0235/)
• Sodium Dihydrogen Citrate, 25 g (https://www.flinnsci.com/sodium-dihydrogen-citrate-25-g/s0455/)
• pack of white chalk, 12 each (such as Crayola 51-0320)
• pack of assorted food color & egg dye, 1 fl oz. (such as McCormick brand)