What You Need:
White Carnations ( 1 for each color you will use)
food coloring in assorted colors (we used red, blue, yellow & green)
clear plastic cups or glasses
water
scissors
What To Do:
** Hypothesis - explain what you are going to do and have your children tell you what they think will happen. The Lil Divas hypothesized that the flower's stem would change color since it was sitting in the colored water! **
1. Fill glasses 1/3 to 1/2 way with water and add enough food coloring so that the color looks deep/dark.
2. Cut the end of the flower's stem and stand flower in colored water
3. Observe leaf after 1 hr. You should see the petals becoming tinged with color
4. Observe throughout the day - you should see petals gain more and more color until you have a colored flower.
5. Discuss results of experiment with your child(ren) -
How did the white carnation change color? Why?
The stem transports water and minerals upwards from the roots through the plant. Since we colored the water we saw how it traveled through the stem upward to the petals.
The Lil Divas LOVED this experiment. They were fascinated by the changing color of the petals. The experiment really helped them see how water travels through the stem to the other parts of the plant.
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We also planted our flower garden today! :) Keeping my fingers crossed that we get some flowers! I have a notorious black thumb but I am hopeful that these will grow. One thing is for sure - we certainly enjoyed planting together.
Since we planted sunflowers today one of the books I read was:
Sunflower House by Eve Bunting
The other book I read was:
My Garden by Kevin Henkes - this is a fun imaginative book about what a lil girl dreams would be in her ideal garden. We had fun imagining and discussing what would be in our "dream" garden - from cupcake trees to seashell and butterfly flowers. :)
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and practiced writing the letter Ff using a handwriting printable from First-School.ws
Hope you enjoyed our experiment, the sneak peek at our (hopefully) future flower garden, books and letter Ff activities! More to come as we continue to explore Flowers this week!
Bern
** linking this to Childhood 101 - We Play!, Sharing Time, Get Crafty, Read, Explore, Learn , For the Kids Friday, and Preschool Corner, Feed Me Books Friday **
