Crystalline solids are solids made of crystals. 
Crystals are solids with flat surfaces.
Crystals are made of chemicals arranged in a regular, repeating pattern.
Crystals are made of chemicals that fit together much like a puzzle. The shape of a crystal depends on the shape of the chemical building blocks that it is made of.
A unit cell is the smallest group of particles within a crystal that retains the geometric shape of the crystal.
For example, the unit cell of a table salt crystal is cubic.
Table Salt chemical name is Sodium Chloride.
Table Salt Crystals are called Halite.
Since Halite is made up of one type of chemical, sodium chloride, it is called a mineral.
For table salt crystals to form, the individual cubic unit cells must be able to move about so that they can be positioned with their faces (flat surfaces) against one another.
Halite crystals are easy to grow. For an investigation that provides a simple procedure for growing halite crystals as well as extended research about halite,
Search for Growing Halite Crystals
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