Delve into the secret life of plants.Plant movement may seem like an oxymoron, but there's a world of activity happening inside each leafy leaf·y adj. leaf·i·er, leaf·i·est 1. Covered with or having leaves. 2. Consisting of leaves: Spinach is a leafy green vegetable. 3. Similar to or resembling a leaf. , soil-bound organism. The following activities reveal to students the plant processes that are normally undetectable to the human eye. Try them - it's a great way to welcome spring into your classroom! ACTIVITY GRADES K-3 PURPOSE To explore how the presence of water affects plant motion. MATERIALS typing paper, pencil, scissors scissors Cutting instrument or tool consisting of a pair of opposed metal blades that meet and cut when the handles at their ends are brought together. Modern scissors are of two types: the more usual pivoted blades have a rivet or screw connection between the cutting ends , large bowl, water, ruler, newspaper, construction paper, copies of lower pattern (right) TIME 20 minutes for each part Why Do Flower Petals Pop Open? PART 1 1 Fill the bowl halfway with water. 2 Enlarge TO ENLARGE. To extend; as, to enlarge a rule to plead, is to extend the time during which a defendant may plead. To enlarge, means also to set at liberty; as, the prisoner was enlarged on giving bail. the flower pattern, right, to fit on typing paper, make copies, and cut it out. 3 Fold each petal toward the middle of the pattern, along the dotted lines. 4 Hold the flower, with folded petals pointed up, about 4 inches above the bowl of water. (The flower must be absolutely dry.) Drop the flower into the water. 5 Notice how, initially, the flower remains folded on the water's surface. But as the paper absorbs water, its petals open one at a time. PART 2 1 Repeat Part 1 using a four- and a six-petal flower. 2 Drop both folded flowers into the water simultaneously and compare the speed at which the petals open. The petals should open at about the same rate. PART 3 1 Repeat Part 2 using 3 four-petal flowers made from typing paper, construction paper, and newspaper. 2 Compare the speeds at which the petals open. The newspaper flower should open the fastest, followed by the construction-paper flower. The typing-paper flower should open the slowest. WHAT'S GOING ON What's Going On is a record by American soul singer Marvin Gaye. Released on May 21, 1971 (see 1971 in music), What's Going On reflected the beginning of a new trend in soul music. ? Some flowers, such as morning glories morning glory, common name for members of the Convolvulaceae, a family of herbs, shrubs, and small trees (many of them climbing forms) inhabiting warm regions, especially the tropics of America and Asia. The family is characterized by milky sap. , four o'clocks Noun 1. four o'clock - any of several plants of the genus Mirabilis having flowers that open in late afternoon flower - a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms genus Mirabilis, Mirabilis - four o'clocks , and mimosas, open due to the movement of water into their cells. The pressure of the water causes the plant parts to move. The faster water moves into the cells, the quicker the flower or leaf opens. Movement may be immediate, as with mimosas, or much slower, as with morning glories and four o'clocks. ACTIVITY GRADES 4-6 PURPOSE To "see" the path water takes through a leaf. MATERIALS two juice glasses; tap water; red food coloring; scissors; two fresh, large green leaves; crayons or colored markers TIME NEEDED 4 days; 45 minutes for the first day and 15 minutes for the following days Track Liquid Traveling Through Leaves 1 Prepare a data sheet by sketching four leaves and labeling them DAY 1, DAY 2, DAY 3, and DAY 4. Make two copies for each student and have them label one CONTROL. 2 Observe the leaves. On the data sheets, color the leaf drawings for Day 1 based on what you see. 3 Fill glasses one-quarter full with water. 4 Add food coloring to one of the glasses to make the water a deep red. 5 Cut off the ends of the leaves' stems and stand one leaf, stem-down, in each glass. 6 Observe the leaves for three days. Color the leaf drawings using the CONTROL sheet for the leaf in the clear water. Use the other data sheet for the leaf in the red water. The color should move slowly through the leaf in the red water, following first the leaf's veins, and then expanding outward to the rest of the leaf. The leaf in the clear water should not change color, since it is the control. ACTIVITY GRADES 4-6 PURPOSE To explore how and why water travels through plants. MATERIALS two juice glasses, tap water, red food coloring, crayons or colored markers, paper, two celery celery, biennial plant (Apium graveolens) of the family Umbelliferae (parsley family), of wide distribution in the wild state throughout the north temperate Old World and much cultivated also in America. talks with leaves, paper towel, magnifying lens, cutting board, knife (for use by adults only) TIME NEEDED 4 days; 45 minutes for the first day and 15 minutes for the following days How Do Plants Eat Nutrients? 1 Repeat the activity above using leafy celery stalks instead of leaves. 2 On the fourth day, remove the stalks from the glasses and dry them with a paper towel. 3 Study the leaves of the stalks. The stalk stalk (stawk) an elongated anatomical structure resembling the stem of a plant. allantoic stalk from the red water should have reddish colored leaves. The leaves of the other stalk (the control) should still be green. 4 Using the knife and cutting board, chop the stalks into 1-inch pieces. 5 Using the magnifying lens, study the outer surface of each celery piece, including the freshly cut surfaces. Tiny red stripes should run along the sides and beneath the surface of the pieces of stalk from the red water. Tiny red dots can be seen on the cut surfaces. 6 Extension activity: Repeat the experiment using a white carnation carnation: see pink. carnation Herbaceous plant (Dianthus caryophyllus) of the pink family, native to the Mediterranean, widely cultivated for its fringe-petaled, often spicy-smelling flowers. to find out if its stem contains xylem xylem (zī`ləm): see stem; wood. xylem Part of a plant's vascular system that conveys water and dissolved minerals from the roots to the rest of the plant and furnishes mechanical support. tubes (see "What's Going On?"). WHAT'S GOING ON? The leaves and celery stalks are part of a vascular plant vascular plant or tracheophyte Any plant that has a specialized conducting system consisting mostly of phloem (food-conducting tissue) and xylem (water-conducting tissue), collectively called vascular tissue. . Like all vascular plants (Bot.) plants composed in part of vascular tissue, as all flowering plants and the higher cryptogamous plants, or those of the class See also: Vascular , they have tubes called xylem that transport sap containing water and minerals upward from the root to the rest of the plant. The red food coloring shows this process by staining the walls of the xylem tubes. Other tubes called phloem phloem (flō`ĕm): see bark; stem. phloem or bast Plant tissues that conduct foods made in the leaves to all other parts of the plant. , not visible in these experiments, transport water and food manufactured in plant leaves throughout the plant. Janice VanCleave is the author of more than 30 science experiment books for kids Books For Kids a is philanthropy organization created by the Sigma Tau Gamma Fraternity. under the leadership of Ken Hoover. Created in 1994, Books For Kids is a charitable project created by the Sigma Tau Gamma Foundation as a project that would tie the fraternity back to its . These activities came from Janice VanCleave's Play and Find Out About Nature (Wiley, 1997; $12.95), Plants (Wiley, 1997; $10.95), and Microscopes and Lenses (Wiley, 1993; $10.95). To order copies, call (800) 225-5945. |
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