The colour changing celery experiment

Type of resource: Video

Web address https://youtu.be/KIug9Foou3s

Language: English

Description

Experiment investigating how water gets to the tops of plants.

Scientific concept introduced

Process of how the xylem transports water from roots to the leaves of a plant.

Creative and critical thinking

Critical Thinking:
– Prediction
– Analysis
– Explanation

Creative Thinking:
– Curiosity
– Imagining

Mathematical reasoning

– Measuring liquids
– Counting

Scientific thinking

– Questioning
– Observing
– Predicting
– Analysing
– Recording

Learning how to learn

– Following guidelines
– Having patience
– Reflection on learning

Additional

– Oral language – listening and following instructions
– Literacy – vocabulary development
– Cooking skills of chopping and pouring
– Hand-eye coordination

https://www.youtube.com/embed/trzaBl1-RIQ?list=PL4VJ0OpU_NAItuz-goQWAsXBHtWriDJCj

https://www.youtube.com/embed/KIug9Foou3s?feature=oembed

The colour changing celery experiment

Overall aims

● to enable pupils to investigate how water moves around a plant from the bottom
to the top
● to develop pupils’ skills in listening and following instructions
● to develop pupils’ cooking skills of chopping and stirring
● to develop pupils’ skills in observing and predicting
● to develop pupils’ skills in turn-taking
● to develop pupils’ skills in measuring
● to develop pupils’ skills in recording

Vocabulary – keywords should be understood

Celery, water, plant, leafy, move, xylem, food colouring, chop, stir, spoon, knife

Expected learning outcomes (operational aims)

The child will be enabled to:
– follow instructions for the experiment
– practice the skills of chopping and stirring
– make predictions and observations about how water moves through a plant
– work together in small groups
– record their experiment prediction and results

STEM skills – to which the learning unit is related to

CORE STEM SKILLS

● Analysis
● Explanation
● Curiosity
● Imagining
● Measuring liquids
● Counting
● Asking questions
● Observing and predicting
● Recording results
● Drawing
● Analyzing the results

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

● Hand-eye coordination

● Cooking skills of chopping and stirring
● Literacy – vocabulary development
● Oral Language – listening and following instructions
● Following guidelines
● Having patience
● Reflection on learning

Teaching methodologies/activity outline

Teacher Notes: This experiment investigates how the xylem transports water from the
roots of the plant to the leaves, or for pupils – how water gets to the top of plants.
You will need to do this experiment across two days, as you will need to leave the
celery in the coloured water overnight.

Introduction:
1. Holding up a bunch of celery ask pupils some questions.

Sample questions: What colour is it? Is it a fruit or vegetable? Have you tasted celery before? What does it taste like?

2. Give pupils a small piece of celery each. (Ensure pupils have washed their hands). Ask them to touch and then taste the celery, describing it. Inform pupils that celery is a very healthy food.
3. Ask children what plants need to grow – eliciting sun, soil, air and water.
4. Inform pupils that today they’re going to look at water in plants – how water moves around the plant and gets to the leaves.

Activity:
(Ask pupils to work in groups of 5 or 6, reminding them to take turns).

Materials: (per group)
– A piece of celery with the leafy parts still on
– Dark coloured food colouring (red or blue works best)
– A cup tall enough to stand the celery inside
– A teaspoon
– A safety knife and chopping board
– Recommended: Celery Experiment activity sheet

Instructions:
Part 1 (Day 1)
1. Ask pupils to check they have all the materials they need.
2. Ask pupils in their groups to fill the cup half way with water.

3. Each group then adds 5 drops of food colouring to the water.

4. Taking turns, ask pupils to use the spoon to stir the food colouring, mixing it with the water.

5. Ask pupils to carefully chop the bottom edge off the celery stalk using a safety knife and chopping board (under close supervision of an adult). Put the celery in the coloured water and leave for one day.

6. Ask pupils what they think they will see the next day. Ask them to make their prediction by drawing it – a Celery Experiment activity sheet could be used.

Part 2 (Day 2)
7. Ask groups to have a look at their celery and discuss.

Sample questions: what do the leaves at the top of the celery look like?
Pick up the stalk – what does it look like? What colour are the leaves?
Why are the leaves that colour – what has happened?

8. Elicit from pupils that the coloured water moved through the celery stalk. How do we know? – We know this because the leafy part changed colour. We can also see the food colouring in the stalk. Inform pupils that this is what happens with plants – the water moves up through the plant to bring water to the top of the plant. Water exits plants
from the leaves at the top, so plants are always pulling water up through the plant.

9. Ask pupils to look at the bottom of the celery stalk – What can you see? (Tiny holes which look like pipes).
Inform pupils that the tiny holes they see at the bottom of the plant are the part of the plant that move water through the plant. These holes make up what is called the xylem.

Conclusion:
1. Ask each pupil to complete their Celery Experiment activity sheet, drawing the result.
2. Ask pupils to compare their prediction with the actual result of the experiment.

Assessment of learning

Pupil observation sheet

Equipment and materials to be used in learning unit (tools, ingredients etc)

1 bunch of celery for demonstration purposes

Per pupil:
A small chopped piece of celery per pupil for tasting
Celery Experiment activity sheet

Per group:

A piece of celery with the leafy parts still on
Dark coloured food colouring (red or blue works best)
A cup tall enough to stand the celery inside
A teaspoon
A safety knife and chopping board