Thames & Kosmos Stem Experiment Kit Amazing Minerals User manual

Manual
STEM EXPERIMENT KIT™
Amazing
Minerals
EN
DE FR IT ES NL

Please lend your child a
hand and assist and
supervise them when
excavating the minerals.
Read through the
instructions together before
starting the experiment,
and follow them. Then
nothing will stand in the
way of a successful
excavation! Keep all parts of this kit out of reach of small children, in
particular the pieces of plaster waste left over after the excavation.
Throw these away in the household trash.
WARNING! Not suitable for children under 8 years.
For use under adult supervision. Read the instructions before use,
follow them and keep them for reference.
WARNING! Not suitable for children under 3 years. Choking hazard —
small parts may be swallowed or inhaled. This kit contains functional
sharp edges or points. Do not injure yourself!
Dear parents!
Safety information
EN
DEFR IT ES NL

Excavating
WARNING! Never leave the magnifying glass unattended in the sun.
Fire danger!
WARNING! Never look directly into the sun, either with your naked eye
or through the magnifying glass! You could blind yourself!
Pay attention to the instructions for use when excavating.
Keep small children or animals away from the experimentation area.
Do not eat or drink in the experimentation area. The plaster block
should be processed slowly and when damp, so that no chips or dust
are produced. Do not get the plaster material in your mouth or eyes.
Wash all equipment and the work space after use. Wash hands after
use! Keep packaging and instructions as they contain important
information.
1. Before starting your dig, prepare a
suitable work space. Lay some old
newspaper on the tabletop to protect the
surface. Prepare the excavation block,
the excavation tool, the brush, a bowl of
water, and a ruler.
1

2. When excavating, pretend you are a
geologist. Divide your excavation site
into squares to be searched one by one.
Carve a grid pattern into the surface
using the chisel and the ruler.
3. Now begin excavating in any of the
search squares. Soak the brush with
water in the bowl of water and dampen
the first search square.
4. The plaster in the search square
becomes very soft as a result of the
water, and you can now freely scrape
away the surface using the excavation
tool. As soon as you come across
something, carefully dig it up. You may
have to dampen the layers of plaster
again using the brush.
5. Follow this procedure step by step for
the other search squares too, until you
have uncovered all the minerals. Work
slowly and carefully so as not to
damage the found specimens.
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3
4

6. Once you have excavated all the gems, you now just need to remove
any plaster residue that is stuck to them. For this, rinse each
individual gem under running water and clean the surface. It’s best
to close the drain when doing this, so that you don’t lose any small
parts. To finish, dry your findings using a piece of paper towel.
Rock and minerals
The Earth’s crust consists of solid rocks such as sandstone, basalt, and
granite. These are composed of smaller material called minerals.
There are some minerals that exist in vast amounts — for example
quartz — and there are other minerals that exist in very small
amounts. These include diamonds and other especially beautiful gems
such as rubies, sapphires, and emeralds.
Mineral descriptions
The clear quartz crystal is a colorless variety of
quartz that is very common in nature. It is so
hard that it can even scratch glass.
The amethyst is a violet variety of quartz. The
color is formed due to the iron content in the
mineral, which turns the crystal violet from the
effects of natural (and harmless!) radioactivity.
Pyrite is also known as fool’s gold. What is
special about this mineral is that it often forms
cube-shaped crystals, and looks like gold metal.

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Composition: sloedesign.de, M. Horn
Illustrations/Photos: Michael Flaig, Pro-Studios; Tanja Donner,
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1st North American Edition © 2020 Thames & Kosmos, LLC, Providence, RI, USA
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