Coloring plants

This week Oliver and I did another easy and fun science experiment! This one teaches about capillary action and the way plants "drink" water. I think probably all of us have either done or seen the end result of this experiment at one point in our lives. :-)

You'll need a tall glass or vase, water, food coloring, and either a celery stalk with leaves attached or a carnation.

Fill the glass or vase with water, then add a few drops of food coloring.


Oliver colored the "before" picture in the book:


Then he put the celery stalk in the vase of colored water and we set it aside for the night. I asked him what his prediction was for this experiment, and he said, "The celery will soak up all of the water and EXPLODE, with osmosis!" Ha ha ha! That's not exactly what ended up happening this time, but it's cute that he was really was paying attention to the gummy bear experiment last week. :-)


The next morning, we saw the end result -- celery leaves tinged with blue, showing how the water molecules were carried upward. Pretty neat!