Another Fun Friday Science Project!

Everyone should try this project- it was lots of fun! Who wants to try to smash rocks open with hammers?
I know you do! Smashing things is fun!
Pick up some "Crack Open Geodes," get a good quality rock hammer, don't forget your safety goggles- and get to crackin'! 
They do sell child size rock hammers which I definitely recommend for little ones (they are lighter and have a shorter "pick" end (that is much less sharp), and are much safer for little ones to handle).
However, today the kids did not have success getting the geodes to crack open with their hammer. It may have just needed more force, but when I helped them handle my rock hammer they got them open easier.
I still preferred the child hammer in their hands since the heavy hammer with the long sharp pick made me all kinds of nervous (greater risk of child hitting their face with the sharp pick end on the "back swing").
I must say, the kids really showed responsibility and took heed to my safety warnings. I was pleasantly surprised how calculated and cautious they both were when holding and using the hammers.

Rock Pick Hammers Side-by-Side: 

You can see the difference in the steel head size. Since we used the flat end to smash open the rocks, the pick end was towards our faces- which is why I preferred the shorter pick for the kids. Mine is more than double the weight of theirs too (my hammer: 22 oz/ kids: 10 oz).

Oh, do you want to see what we found inside?

Wait for it...

Drum roll, please... 

Before ....

After!

So fun right? Lots of quartz crystals, that Sariah called "diamonds."Don't I wish! This science project tied in perfectly to our Unit Study featuring gemstones and where they come from!

Stay tuned- we took a VIDEO of this project- YAY! Way more fun to share exactly what happened, what went wrong and what went right- HA! I'll upload the video later this weekend!!


Video Disclaimer: I have never cracked geodes open before, so our video is definitely not a "how to do it properly video"- maybe more like a "how NOT to do it" as far as technique goes, hehe... BUT for us it was not about being experts on getting them open, it was about having fun (which we did) and learning and finding out what was inside (and we did that too)! So I am sure there will be some "rock expert" people shouting we are doing it wrong :)
This project was definitely one of our favorites and one we look forward to doing again. We wanted to share the learning while exploring- FUN we had! We hope lots of families will try this too! Happy crackin'!
...........Post Video Link Here......