There are so many things to wonder about. Here's a science experiment to help children learn about how plants take in water. Encourage them to predict what might happen, to observe, and to talk about what they see -- that's scientific thinking!

Materials:

• Celery stalks (including leaves)
• Water
• Jar or glass
• Food coloring
• Drinking straws (optional)

Directions:

Cut off about 1 inch from the bottom of a stalk of celery and show the children the little holes in the stalk. They are like skinny straws, packed closely together. Explain that the celery plant draws water up through the holes, the way we drink from a straw.

Put some food coloring in a jar of water, and then put the celery stalk in the jar of colored water. After a few hours, the top leaves will begin to turn the same color as the water. Cut one of the celery stalks in half, and the children may be able to see the colored water in the veins.

Now that the children have seen "celery straws" at work, you may want to put out drinking straws for water or juice at the next meal.

Try to make time to answer children's "Why?" questions whenever you can. If you don't know the answer to children's questions, you can say, "Let's try to find out" and show how you find answers in books, from people, or through the computer.

Back to Theme