Post by angeldelight on Oct 19, 2006 16:04:33 GMT
I am not sure where I got this activity from now but its really good from the age of 4 to 8 years or older if you have older children
Some of the younger ones may be a bit impatient but I did it with the children and they were amazed at the end result.I'm sure you could buy any white flower and if you were to go to the market at the end of the day you might be able to get some flowers really cheap
COLORED CARNATION
What you need:
24 hours
white carnations (1 would be enough for each child , but you can get a few and do different colors)
flower vase(s)
food coloring
water
Directions:
Fill vase 1/4 full of water.
Add a fair amount of food coloring (10 to 20 drops) or more if your vases are large
Put a flower in each vase and let it sit for a day. Just like you would for any cut flower, have an adult trim the stem at an angle before placing it in the vase
Check back every few hours to see how it's working.
At the end of your experiment, examine the whole plant carefully (stem, leaves, buds, petals, etc). What parts can you see the food color in?
What Happened:
Most plants "drink" water from the ground through their roots. The water travels up the stem of the plant into the leaves and flowers. The plant uses the water to make food.
When a flower is cut, it no longer has it's roots. But the stem of the flower still "drinks" up the water and provides it to the leaves and flowers.
Note: Red and blue food coloring work the fastest.
Our Results:
We (4 year old boy and girl, 6 year old girl and a 8 year old girl plus me age 40 something *wink*) experimented with blue, yellow and green food coloring. The blue was the fastest and the green was the slowest. If your carnation doesn't start to show color in about 6 hours, add a few more drops of food coloring.
Some of the younger ones may be a bit impatient but I did it with the children and they were amazed at the end result.I'm sure you could buy any white flower and if you were to go to the market at the end of the day you might be able to get some flowers really cheap
COLORED CARNATION
What you need:
24 hours
white carnations (1 would be enough for each child , but you can get a few and do different colors)
flower vase(s)
food coloring
water
Directions:
Fill vase 1/4 full of water.
Add a fair amount of food coloring (10 to 20 drops) or more if your vases are large
Put a flower in each vase and let it sit for a day. Just like you would for any cut flower, have an adult trim the stem at an angle before placing it in the vase
Check back every few hours to see how it's working.
At the end of your experiment, examine the whole plant carefully (stem, leaves, buds, petals, etc). What parts can you see the food color in?
What Happened:
Most plants "drink" water from the ground through their roots. The water travels up the stem of the plant into the leaves and flowers. The plant uses the water to make food.
When a flower is cut, it no longer has it's roots. But the stem of the flower still "drinks" up the water and provides it to the leaves and flowers.
Note: Red and blue food coloring work the fastest.
Our Results:
We (4 year old boy and girl, 6 year old girl and a 8 year old girl plus me age 40 something *wink*) experimented with blue, yellow and green food coloring. The blue was the fastest and the green was the slowest. If your carnation doesn't start to show color in about 6 hours, add a few more drops of food coloring.