Discover genuine crystal treasures in the world’s best geodes kit or build and erupt your own volcano. Create your own galaxy and explore space with the lumenescent moon and stars kit or excavate genuine dinosaur fossils. Make a glowing slime lab or uncover amethyst, quartz and tiger’s eye for your gemstone collection. Find three perfectly preserved insect specimens in the real bug dig kit or grow your own glow-in-the-dark crystals.

About the National Geographic Society: With a mission to inspire people to care about the planet, the National Geographic Society is one of the world's largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Precious gems are formed in different ways and composed of different materials, meaning their appearances vary vastly.Historically, gems have been divided into precious and semiprecious classes. There are a number of semiprecious gems, many quite beautiful, but diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds continue to qualify as "precious." (At one time, amethyst was also considered a precious gem, but large reserves were later found in Brazil, reducing its value.)

Many people who collect these specimens do not necessarily have an in-depth knowledge of these differences as opposed to those who receive and study them. This is due to the fact that synthetic gems are created by taking the knowledge of how the gem is formed naturally thanks to science, finding the same mineral contents as the genuine version needs, and manufacturing it in a reduced amount of time. This can result in an imitation geode or gem that is visibly identical to those created in nature.

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The interior cavity is what makes geodes so special, as it is lined with various types of mineral materials. These minerals create bands lining the interior cavity. Unfortunately, it’s nearly impossible to tell the difference between naturally produced and lab-produced gems and geodes. But, if you spot a geode that seems a tad too perfect to have been naturally formed, then odds are that it was probably made in a lab. The exceptional range of beautifully illustrated educational products, marketed under the name of Smart Thinking and Smart Play, is fast becoming a favourite among teachers, therapists and parents nation-wide.

These include materials like pottery materials, ceramic, plastic, glass, or resin. These materials are manipulated into having the physical properties of the natural geode. Even expert gemologists, mineral collectors, and paleontologists have been fooled by how convincing these imitations can be. You may have to hand out some cash for this, but it’s better than getting swindled for a handful of craft-painted pebbles. Geodes have notably become one of the most mesmerizing enigmas for the world. While they serve as a source of precious scientific research material for geologists, they embody mystery and wonder for the general public. This has led to heightened demand for geodes, which resulted in the artificial manufacturing of fake geodes. But, there are real and fake geodes, so let us see what are the differences between them. TIP: Geodes are sometimes explained as being a phenomenon. The value of a geode mostly depends on the worth of what is inside of it. Find out more in the article below:

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Having privately owned geodes has become a massive trend over the past decade. With more and more people having the funds and amenities for these natural pieces of art, and nature only being able to produce a certain amount of them, resources have become extremely limited. Emeralds are formed of a mineral called beryl whose chemical formula is a complex mix of beryllium, aluminum, silicon, and oxygen. The color comes from additional traces of chromium and vanadium. Different trace elements can produce other colors, allowing beryl to form semiprecious stones such as aquamarine. While this is not the ‘real deal, these are not necessarily fake. Since they are comprised of the same material compositions, have the same properties, and chemical compounds, they could still technically be seen as real. Other than geodes, a relative example of this would be lab-grown diamonds. Diamonds, made of carbon atoms, are the hardest natural substance found on Earth. Formed under extremely high pressure hundreds of miles underground, they are found in very few locations around the world. Graphite is also made of carbon atoms, but with a different arrangement—explaining why diamond is the hardest mineral and graphite (used in pencil lead) is one of the softest. TIP: Another similar issue with geodes is they are often dyed. But how to identify dyed geodes? It can be a bit complicated so I wrote a simple guide on how to identify dyed geodes, feel free to read it here:

Rubies are formed of a mineral called corundum, comprised of aluminum oxide. The red color is caused by traces of chromium. Corundum also forms sapphire in many colors, which generally come from trace mixtures of iron, titanium, and chromium. Geodes can form with a variety of crystals inside and National Geographic has searched the globe to bring you the best variety of geodes. This earth science kit provides a hands-on science experiment that you and your children are guaranteed to love.Due to the high level of accuracy in manufacturing imitation geodes, it’s becoming increasingly more challenging to spot fakes or manmade versions. What is fake is the pretense of it being a ‘geode’, since the main factor that defines a geode is the process by which the crystal interior is formed within the cavity without any intervention by humans. In this case, it would be a fake geode with a synthetic, lab-grown interior. But, there are many degrees of ‘fake’, and there are a few factors that are telling or some of these manufacturing methods. Synthetic or Lab-grown Some geodes and gems are lab-grown, which is not a particularly bad thing since it helps lower the planet’s resource depletion, while still providing geode interiors of relatively good quality. Still, you should always know the true value of what you are purchasing.