Oakville Crystals EarthCache
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Crystals are minerals that have had the chance to grow in the shape that they were meant to be. Just like your DNA determines the colour of your eyes, how tall you will get to be and the shape of your bones, the chemicals that a mineral is made of determines what shape it gets to be. We can tell different minerals apart by what crystal shape they are.
Sometimes minerals form in spaces where there is not a lot of room, so they don't have a crystal shape. When there is just a big hunk of a mineral, it is called a massive mineral. If there is a definite shape with easy to see flat sides, it is called a mineral crystal.
Most of the earth's crystals were formed millions of years ago. Crystals form when the liquid rock from inside the earth cool and harden. Sometimes crystals form when liquids underground find their way into cracks and slowly deposit minerals. Most mineral crystals take thousands of years to "grow" but some like salt (halite) can form so quickly that you can watch them grow at home!
At the posted coordinates you will find a very large rock with many crystals embedded in it. Perform the following tasks and email me your results and what you have learned about these crystals.
1) What is the type of rock that these crystals are embedded in and how do you know.
2) Measure the distance that these crystals are from the shoreline of Lake Ontario.
3) Take measurements of the largest of these crystals.
4) Are these crystals clear? Translucent? Opaque? Do they have any colour?
5) Take a laser pointer and shine the light into the crystal. Is the laser light absorbed or reflected\refracted by the crystal? To see if it reflects, you can hold you hand or a rock in the opposite angle that you shine your laser at the crystal.
Grow your own crystals.
If you want to have some fun, as an optional task, why not try to grow your own crystals. There are many web sites that you can read on the internet on how to do this. We have been successfully growing a crystal for 2 months now and it continues to form and grow every week where we can see the changes.
As another geological point of interest, have a look at rocks on the beach and you may discover many different types of fossils embedded in them.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Snpr gur jngre. Tb n yvggyr shegure fbhgu jrfg vs lbh unir univat ceboyrzf svaqvat vg. Gur gnyyre ebpxf.