Growing Spheres

(25 reviews)

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Growing Spheres - Small
Item #: GB-702
$6.95

14 points (Points accrued: 0)

50 g (~3000 spheres)
- +

Learn about Extra Credit Points®

Growing Spheres - Regular
Item #: GB-710
$6.95

14 points (Points accrued: 0)

50 g (~2500 spheres)
- +

Learn about Extra Credit Points®

Growing Spheres - Jumbo
Item #: GB-730
$6.95

14 points (Points accrued: 0)

50 g (~870 spheres)
- +

Learn about Extra Credit Points®

Place these hard crystals in water and they expand about 300 times.

Description

Place these hard crystals in water and they expand about 300 times, producing gel-like spheres. Students love to feel the slippery, spherical gel! The Regular size starts with a diameter of about 2 mm and ends with a diameter of about 14 mm. Ask students to determine the change in volume, using V = πr³. Great for starting seeds and growing plants so that the roots can be seen! Can be tinted using food coloring. The polymer is similar to our super-absorbent, polyacrylamide polymer (GB-5B and GB-3) and can be dried and reused. Small (~1 cm expanded), Regular (~1.4 cm expanded) or Jumbo (~3.3 cm expanded)! (Each package contains 50 grams.)

Item #	Style	Size	Grams	# of Spheres
GB-702	Small	~1 cm (0.4")	50	~3000
GB-710	Regular	~1.4 cm (0.55")	50	~2500
GB-730	Jumbo	~3.3 cm (1.3")	50	~870

Download the MSDS of this product.

blog button Read more on our Blog - The Magic of Seeds, Spring and Science!

Adult supervision required. This is not a toy. Do not ingest.

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Reviews

25 reviews

exactly as expected

Apr 18, 2020

These grew to a perfectly spherical shape and over an inch in diameter.

Ann

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Not worth the money

Oct 13, 2018

None of the spheres survived expansion, every single one split in half before reaching full size. One out of ten even got close to the claimed size.

Levi Wilson

Owner Response: Levi, someone from our Customer Service team will be reaching out to you. Yours is a unique problem that we have not had with the product. Obviously, we will make sure you are completely satisfied with your purchase!

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Awesome But Needs More Details

Feb 14, 2018

I got the jumbo size growing spheres. I expected them to be multi-colored, like in the picture, but they are clear. However, if you use gel food coloring in the water when you grow them, you can make whatever color you want! They were the perfect size for what I needed, but don't confuse them with the truly enormous 2" spheres you can get elsewhere. Overall a great product at a great price, but the description could use a few more details.

Sarah

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Jumbo Growing Spheres

Jan 4, 2016

Surprisingly fast shipping considering it was right around the holidays. We've enjoyed the jumbo growing spheres. They are about the size of a regular bouncy ball when fully grown. Very cool.

Kami

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hydrophilic gels

Oct 27, 2015

Students loved them. Wanted to know where I got them. I wouldn't be surprised if some students ordered them for their own use.

Leisa Kolberg

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great, but becareful of what you expect

Dec 19, 2014

These are fantastic for qualitative/quantitative labs...great chance to measure and observe! I do think they are more delicate than I had hoped for- most of them have shattered ..I was hoping to let them dry out and reuse them- not a good expectation...

kareng

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Craig

Mar 8, 2014

Jumbo is misleading. The jumbo orbs I have ordered in the past from another source grew to the size of a tennis ball. That source didn't sell them anymore, so I was hoping yours would take their place. Oh well.

Craig Hansen

Owner Response: We're sorry for your disappointment, Craig. I think our Gigantic Spheres are more in line with what you are envisioning should grow to the size of a tennis ball. They grow to approximately 5 cm in diameter. As listed in the description, the Jumbo Spheres expand to approximately 3.3 cm, and the Regular Spheres expand to approximately 1.4 cm.

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Great Inquiry

Sep 15, 2013

My students explored the spheres first and then experimented with other solutions to discover properties of the spheres. Great fun!

Carol Roach

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Growing Spheres

Jul 30, 2013

I could not be more pleased. I purchased these for my son who is a chemist, as a part of a birthday present. They are a delightful gift for someone interested in chemistry and similar areas. And you really can not see them in water. Very fun!

Janie Smith

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Retired teacher

May 23, 2013

Kids can't wait to see what is next after these amazing projects!

Beverly Pape

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Dangerous for preschoolers!

Nov 25, 2012

I think it is important to add a warning about this product. These type of water-absorbing polymers have been the cause of at least one death when a baby swallowed it. You would definitely not want to let any go home with students who might have young siblings. see http://pediatrics.about.com/b/2012/09/17/water-absorbing-balls-another-hidden-hazard.htm

Cynthia

Owner Response: Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Though none of our materials are intended for use with children younger than school age, we have included warning labels on this particular product cautioning the buyer of the choking hazards associated with it.

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High School Religion Teacher

Sep 16, 2012

Excellent!

Anne Andersson

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Excellent to see seed growth

May 29, 2012

Crystal clear view to the whole germination progress. Worked well in showing my students the progress of the TomatoSphere seeds.

Justin Monaco

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Good Cross Curriculum Item

May 22, 2012

the growth in these beads is astronomical. I used them with a math teacher to introduce and then formulate growth. It was a great cross curriculum lesson. The orbs feel very cool and students had a fascination that drew them to the observation beaker the first thing when the entered the room each day.

Margaret Carter

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Expanding spheres

May 22, 2012

These are great!!! My class used them to start seeds and watch the roots grow within the transparent spheres.

Maryjane Utley

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Great to Start Demonstrations!!!

May 22, 2012

My students and I use these in a beaker of water at the start of our lower and middle school Wizard Shows to get the students thinking about the importance of "careful observations." They think there is only water in the beaker until we start pulling the spheres out and showing them that things are "not always as they appear" and that is important to watch and ask questions. GREAT opening!!!

Laura Slocum

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teacher

May 16, 2012

I LOVE to use the smaller sizes with my 5th graders. We use them with our light unit, as they have almost an identical angle of refraction as water, so they appear to be invisible to the students until they stick their hands inside the bag of "water". The smaller spheres hold up better with 10-11 year olds than the larger spheres.

Susan Robertson

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growing spheres

May 16, 2012

My middle school students were enthralled with these. They loved exploring thier properties

prin furst

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Ms. W

May 16, 2012

These have been very popular with my students. It's interesting to do volume studies with them, to determine the percentage of growth.

Kim Weber

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Great to start Seeds

May 16, 2012

These are great seed starters for plant growth demonstrations! The kids can grow the spheres and then place plant seeds in them and watch them grow. You simply just transfer the sphere to soil and they have a take home project instantly! Love them!

C. Davis

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Grow Spheres are Great

May 16, 2012

Grow Spheres are a wonderful tool to demonstrate refractive index. Great visual.

Shari Litch Gray

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Love these

May 16, 2012

My students love these! I use them when we are talking about refraction/reflection, density, absorption, etc. Awesome!

June Stevens

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Growing Spheres

May 16, 2012

I have found so many uses for these! I have used them for geometry, physical science and physics. THey are great for every subject. And the best part is you can use them again.

Stacy

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Students love them

May 16, 2012

They were not as big as I hoped and had seen in the past (even the jumbo), but they were perfect for an inquiry lab. The students get a huge kick out of them and the fact that they have no idea they are in the water until they put their hands in. Very sturdy, grow fairly quickly.

Brittany Arnold

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Wonderful

May 16, 2012

A wonderful example of magic and science!

Dr Marco Miranda

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NGSS

This product will support your students' understanding of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)*, as shown in the table below.

Elementary

Middle School

High School

1-PS4-1

Students can use Water Gel Spheres to plan and conduct investigations to provide evidence that vibrating materials make sound and that sound can make materials vibrate.

1-PS4-3

Students can use Water Gel Spheres to plan and conduct an investigation to determine the effect of placing objects made with different materials in the path of a beam of light.

2-PS1-2

Students can analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.

5-PS1-3

Students can use Water Gel Spheres to make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties.

MS-PS1-1

Students can use Water Gel Spheres in an investigation to develop a model to describe composition of simple and extended structures.

MS-PS1-2

Students can analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.

MS-PS4-2

Students can use Water Gel Spheres in an investigation to develop and use a model to describe that waves are reflected, absorbed, or transmitted through various materials.

DCI-MS/ETS1.B: Developing Possible Solutions.

A solution needs to be tested, and then modified based on the test results in order to improve it.

HS-PS1-2

Students can use Water Gel Spheres in an investigation to construct and revise an explanation for the outcome of a simple chemical reaction based on the outermost electron states of atoms, trends in the Periodic Table, and knowledge of the patterns of chemical properties.

HS-PS2-6

Students will observe and communicate scientific information about why the molecular-level structure is important in the functioning of a material.

Suggested Science Idea(s)

2-PS1-2
5-PS1-3
MS-PS1-1
MS-PS1-2
DCI-MS/ETS1.B
HS-PS1-2
HS-PS2-6

Students can conduct simple tests using Water Gel Spheres to understand the rate at which the polymers absorb or evaporate water. Information gathered can be used as evidence to support or refute student ideas about hydrophilic (water loving) materials.

1-PS4-1
1-PS4-3
MS-PS4-2

Students can conduct simple tests using Water Gel Spheres as magnifying lenses. Students can also experiment with sound waves and their effects on the hydrophilic polymer.

* NGSS is a registered trademark of Achieve. Neither Achieve nor the lead states and partners that developed the Next Generation Science Standards were involved in the production of, and do not endorse, this product.

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Growing Spheres

NGSS

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