Weekly Wrap-up-Waffles and a Plant Activity

Another week has ended in the James household.  The weekend is definitely welcomed here.  The boys are definitely ready to return to their video gaming and ditch worksheet writing, and I am ready for a break.

Friday we did a little experiment to demonstrate how a plant's roots absorb nutrients and water from the soil, and how it distributes it up the plant stem and to its leaves.  (I will post the steps for this below each photo.)

I really wanted to use white carnations to do this experiment but believe it or not, I could not find white carnations anywhere!!  I imagine it would have taken a little longer to see the results with real flowers anyway.  I just may do it later.  We are also growing beans in a ziploc bag.

 

First cut (or tear) sheets of paper towel.  This will act as the plant with the bottom being the roots, the middle being the stem and the top being the leaves.

 

Next, fill the bottom of the cups with water.  This will act as the soil and the water in the soil.  Glass or clear cups work best so you can observe what is happening.  Add a few drops of food coloring to the water.  The food coloring will be the nutrients found in the soil.  Stir the water to make sure the food coloring is mixed in well.

 

 

Add the strip of paper towel to the water being careful not to drop it completely in.  If you notice, I attempted to fold a crease in the paper to try to keep it from dropping in the water.  You may need to fold a larger piece of paper towel into a small strip to make it stronger.

Lastly, observe how the water and food coloring (water and nutrients from the soil) climb up the paper towel (stem).  If you use white carnations, you will see the same results.  You can also use celery for this experiment.

We then followed up in our workbooks labeling plant parts and reviewing what each part does.  I was impressed with how much the boys' handwriting has improved.

Well that's all for now.  Please share your weekly wrap-up at Weird & Unsocialized Homeschoolers with me!  You will find a link to it below.

Hope you all have a great weekend!!



    

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