thirsty plants

This plant activity is really simple, and many of you may have done it before, but it's so fun for little ones. Really, they get excited to check on the "project" after waiting for a day, and getting excited about learning is HUGE.

Materials:
celery stalks with leaves on the ends
tall drinking glass or vase
water
red food coloring

Place a couple of celery stalks in a tall glass filled about half-way with water. Add 8 to 10 drops of food coloring to the water and gently swirl. Leave somewhere safe for at least 24 hours. Ask your child to make a hypothesis: what does he or she think will happen to the celery? Why? Observe the celery after the 24 hour period and discuss what happened. You can also cut the stem of the celery, making a cross-section. You should be able to see some red lines within the stem. These are the parts of the plant that carry water throughout the plant.

Discussion for young kids: Plants need water to survive. They absorb water and special plant parts carry the water to the leaves.

Discussion for older kids: Plants absorb water through a process called osmosis. Water moves from an area of higher concentration (inside the glass) to an area of lower concentration (across the membranes of the plant). Plants like celery are vascular - they have special parts that move water throughout the plant.

It might be fun to take a before and after photo of the celery. You can also use a white carnation instead of celery.

You can read more here.