Since it’s spring and flowers are blooming, we conducted an experiment in class to see how cut flowers (with no roots) are able to “drink” water.  

The experiment:                                                                                                        

White cut flowers were placed in several little cups of coloured water. Using food colouring we prepared 5 cups of coloured water (red, blue, yellow, green and purple). The children waited patiently for a day.  Over the coming days, the children were thrilled to see how the petals changed colour, as if they were “drinking” the coloured water.

The explanation:                                                                                                          

Plant stems have tiny tubes called capillaries. Water is drawn through these capillaries to reach petals and leaves. To help them visualise the capillaries in a flower stem we designed a little flower with straws in the stem to represent the caplllaries. 

Children’s reaction and comments:                                                                            

While the younger ones were fascinated by the end result of the colours changing, the older ones asked some thought provoking questions like “do the tubes suck it up like we suck a straw?” or “what happens if we put the flowers back in plain water?”                    

                                                                                                                              

“WOW… this is amazing” – Greyson                                                                           

“Can I see the little tubes in the stem?” – Asha                                                

“Look, my flower is turning blue” – Wilder