Rainbow celery Kindergarten style
Have you ever eaten red or purple celery? Well over in Woodstock, Miss Richardson’s Kindergarten students have produced rainbow celery in the name of science!
As part of their study of Living Things, our Kindergarten students talked about watering a thirsty plant, and how its roots absorbed the water from the soil. But what had them slightly flummoxed, was how the water travelled from the plant’s roots all the way to its leaves.
Miss Richardson decided to do an experiment. She fetched some clear glass jars, some fresh celery stalks with leaves, some water and some food colouring. Meanwhile, the students transformed themselves into scientists!
Working in pairs, they popped sticks of celery into a glass jar, adding in some red and purple food colouring. They were amazed to see the green celery leaves magically changing colour.
Miss Richardson explained that inside plants lie tiny tubes called xylem. They draw the water up from the roots like a straw by a process called capillary action.
The students then drew diagrams to illustrate capillary action.
And then, best of all, they ate the leftover celery. Yum!