How long does it take to grow a shell?

Sea shell? Egg shell? Emotional shell? How does she plan to grow said shell?

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-are-seashells-created

You don’t “grow” a shell, per se, the creature that it is a part of grows it. The growth rate will depend on the species, available resources, the conditions of the tank, etc.

A saltwater shell i think. aquarium shell. Ya. aquarium shell.

Im sorry, but that makes no sense. One can not just grow a shell.

This is like saying she wants to grow hair or claws. They don’t exist apart from a creature—that is, an animal—that has the ability to produce it. Your daughter can’t grow a shell on herself. A fish can’t grow hair. A snail can’t grow claws.

An aquarium is a container for things that live in the water. It is not alive and can’t grow anything.

okay thank you! How long does a snail take to grow a big shell?

does anyone know how long it takes for a creature to grow a shell? Like, how long till it’s an inch big?

This is highly dependent on said creature. I suggest you search google for whichever animal it is your interested in and how fast their growth rates are, im pretty positive you will find what you’re looking for.

But I’m also wondering how that could be a person’s science project. It seems to me that growing the shell would be the snail’s project. How could a person actually do anything except watch? And nothing is going to happen very fast. One source I saw seemed to show a snail’s growth rate of only a few millimeters (about a tenth of an inch) in three months’ time.

I think your daughter ought to check with the teacher and make sure her project idea is acceptable.

She did ask her teacher after your answers and was told to answer what, when, how, ect. Thank you for all your wonderful answers! This website is fun! Stephanie