edHelper.com
Matter

Crystals

Crystals
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 7 to 8
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   6.86

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    amethyst, troubleshooting, undisturbed, obsidian, phantom, solution, billion, spectacular, snowflake, dissolve, someplace, supply, chemical, drug, attach, interesting
     content words:    Hope Diamond, Smithsonian Institution, Natural History

Print Crystals
edHelper.com subscriber options:
     Print Crystals  (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)
     Quickly print reading comprehension
     Print a proofreading activity

Feedback on Crystals
     Leave your feedback on Crystals  (use this link if you found an error in the story)

Crystals
By Sharon Fabian 		  
1     Salt crystals are square. Snowflakes have six sides. A diamond has many sides. Minerals like these that have flat smooth sides are all called crystals. Crystals are made of molecules that are all the same shape, and are arranged in a neat pattern. This pattern gives crystals their beautiful geometric shapes. Some crystals can be cut and polished into sparkling jewelry. These crystals are called gemstones. Diamonds, emeralds, amethyst, and rubies are crystals. Some gemstones have colorful names that match the gem. There are green phantom quartz, rainbow obsidian, and Oregon jelly opal.
 
2     Gemstones form in the earth over a long period of time. It took about a billion years to form the Hope Diamond, which you can now see in the Smithsonian Institution at the Museum of Natural History.
 
3     Other crystals form much quicker. In fact, you can grow crystals yourself using just a few everyday ingredients. You can grow crystals from sugar, salt, Epsom salt, or other chemical salts that you can buy at a chemistry supply or drug store.
 
4     To start, you will need a saturated solution. Mix the Epsom salt, or whatever, in water until the water has dissolved all that it can dissolve. This is called a saturated solution.

Paragraphs 5 to 11:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable
Copyright © 2008 edHelper