We did a fun experiment with white carnations and food dye!
We trimmed the stems at an angle, which I've always been told helps
the flowers drink more water.
We quickly put them in water...
...and then added colors to the water.
Then we tried something a little different.
We carefully split the stem...
...and then put the two sides in different colors!
Here they are after just a few minutes.
The flower on the far left is already taking in some red color.
The flower on the far left is already taking in some red color.
Here they are after half an hour.
A few hours later...
And overnight!
We learned that tiny tubes called xylem pull water and nutrients into the plant.
If the water happens to have dye in it, they pull the color in, too!
The split stem flowers turned out especially pretty.
Now we have a lovely centerpiece for our kitchen table,
and we learned a little science, too!
Just linked up with Science Sunday at Adventures in Mommydom! Take a look at the great entries over there!
If the water happens to have dye in it, they pull the color in, too!
The split stem flowers turned out especially pretty.Now we have a lovely centerpiece for our kitchen table,
and we learned a little science, too!
Just linked up with Science Sunday at Adventures in Mommydom! Take a look at the great entries over there!
I love the split stem ones! They're all so pretty. We've done that with celery but never carnations. The kids just got bouquets of carnations from their grandparents on opening night of the pageant and they had different colors. I told them food coloring had done it and the younger ones were so impressed! What I found interesting was that Jack's blue carnations turned the vase water blue, so the food coloring was traveling both ways.
ReplyDeleteWe'll have to try this after pageant season. :)
have done this with the kids before, also worked on daisies. great experiment! I like the blue one.
ReplyDeleteVery cool! I've always wanted to try that - thanks for the reminder. Maybe we'll try it, and give them to Grandma for her b-day this weekend :)
ReplyDeleteCool - it's a classic for a reason. :)
ReplyDeleteI have always wanted to do this but never got around to it now I will have to make it a priority. The flowers are so cool looking:)
ReplyDeleteHi! I am one of the Three Thinking Mothers and I wanted to thank you for joining our site. My children are in 6th and 4th grade as well and we are currently studying botany. I love this post. I am following you now!
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing because we just did the split stem experiment yesterday at our house (I haven't posted anything about it yet), and we learned about xylem and phloem. Such a neat coincidence that I clicked over here from Science Sunday and found this post :)
ReplyDeleteGreat job finding a diagram to explain that. I love this experiment, and look forward to doing it with my kids someday.
ReplyDeleteLooking through your blog I am very impressed with how aesthetically pleasing your projects are. Our beans were on a paper towel in a ziploc bag, hanging off a bulletin board... Our carnations were haphazardly set on top of our snake tank. Thanks for the inspiration to keep things pretty. Maria Montessori would approve. ; )
ReplyDeleteYou had the right idea for your lima beans! Ours became infested with little flies and we had to toss them out without doing the second part of our experiment! We're going to start over and this time we'll use a bag, too.
ReplyDeleteAs for the carnations...your snake probably enjoyed the lovely bouquet! :)