THE DRINKING FLOWERS
Lesson Four
Overview
As we all know water is essential for
the survival of not only animals but
plants as well. However, many times
we overlook the ingenious way in
which water moves from a plant’s
roots, up through the stem, out from
the petals and leaves, and back into
the environment. Through a series of
simple experiments and observations,
young students can witness this natural
process happening right before their
eyes.
At the conclusion of this section, your
students should be able to record
observations about how water moves
through the parts of plants including
the roots, stems, and flowers, identify
that plants have the basic need of
water, and understand that heat can
cause a plant to “sweat”.
Objectives
TEKS objectives that will be addressed
in this section include: Science
2.A,B,D,E, 4.B, 6.D, 7.C, 9.B, 10.B
Completion Time
Several hours throughout the day
Materials
1. 10 fresh white carnations with stems
2. 3 clear glass containers, 2 holding at
least 6 ounces of water each and one
completely dry
3. Dark colored food dye (blue, green,
or red works best)
4. A magnifying glass (provided with
program)
5. Zip Lock style bags
6. Sunny location
ACTIVITY ONE
Advanced Preparation
1. Collect all materials listed.
2. Prepare your carnations by clipping them so that the stem of each
flower is no longer than 8 inches in length.
3. Remind the students that during the H2O Hero Mysterious Chest
story that they learned plants need water to survive. This lesson will
address how plants get water.
Activity
1. Fill two of your clear glass containers with approximately 6 ounces of
water each, and lay the carnations on a table, ready to use. Discuss
with the students how plants “drink” water.
Ask:
If I asked you to drink this glass of water, how would you do it?
You’d put it up to your mouth, right?
What if you tried to drink through your feet? Could a plant do
this? Ask them to guess.
Discuss with students how plants soak up water from their roots
and move it up through their stems.
2. Add at least 12-14 drops of food coloring to one of the glasses to
make a strongly colored solution. Leave one glass of water plain and
leave the third glass totally empty.
3. Place three flowers into the plain water, five flowers into the colored
water and two flowers into the empty glass. Ask the students if they see
anything happening right away (probably not). Ask them what they
believe will happen over time to each set of flowers.
4. Have the students check the flowers every few hours and discuss
observations and changing conditions.
5. Within 12-18 hours, the flowers placed in the colored solutions should
be fringed with color. Have the students use magnifying glasses to see
the “veins” on the flower petals. Ask the students what happened?
Essentially, the plant “drank” through its stem, absorbing nutrients and
sending them to the flower.
1.
THE DRINKING FLOWERS
Lesson Four
6. Ask the students if they believe the same thing is happening to the flowers in the clear water. Yes it is. Tell them
that in a few minutes you will conduct another experiment to prove that water moves through the stem, up into the
flower, and out through the leaves.
7. Observe the flowers in the glass without any water and ask what is happening to those. [They are dying without
water]. Ask the students if there is any way to keep the flowers from dying. If time permits, follow through on their
suggestions to see if the flowers can be saved.
ACTIVITY TWO
1. Carefully place the Zip Lock bag over the heads of two or three flowers in the clear water.
2. Seal up the bag around the stems as tight as you can.
3. Take the jar with the water and covered flowers and place them in a sunny location (preferably a window where
the flowers can get plenty of sun but these can also be taken to a sunny location outdoors).
4. Allow the flowers to sit in the sun for several hours. Have the students check back to see how much water is
collecting inside the Zip Lock bag.
5. Ask the students:
How did the water get in the bag?
Remind them that water travels through the roots and up through the stem. Plants release this water through their
leaves and back into the air. This process is called Transpiration (or as we like to call it, “plant sweat”).
Thank you to Education.com-Julie Williams for this activity.
2.