Rainbow Flower: Capillary Action Experiment

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 Ages: 5-10

Objective: Engage children in a fascinating and colorful experiment to observe capillary action in action while creating a beautiful rainbow flower.

Materials Needed:

  1. White flowers with stems (such as carnations, daisies, or celery stalks with leaves attached)
  2. Clear glasses or jars (one for each color)
  3. Water
  4. Liquid food coloring (red, blue, yellow)
  5. Scissors (for trimming flower stems if needed)

Procedure:

  1. Fill each clear glass or jar with water, filling them about halfway.

  2. Add a few drops of liquid food coloring to each glass or jar, using red, blue, and yellow to create a rainbow of colors. Stir each glass to evenly distribute the food coloring.

  3. Optional: Trim the stems of the white flowers at an angle to help them absorb water more easily.

  4. Place one end of each flower stem into a different colored glass or jar, ensuring that each flower has access to only one color of water.

  5. Observe as the flowers begin to absorb the colored water through their stems.

  6. Over the next few hours or days, watch as the colored water travels up the stems of the flowers, gradually changing the color of the petals.

  7. As the flowers absorb more water, the colors will mix and create a beautiful rainbow effect in the petals.

Explanation:

  • The Rainbow Flower experiment demonstrates the principle of capillary action, where liquids are drawn upward against gravity through narrow spaces, such as the tubes in a flower stem.
  • As the flowers absorb the colored water through their stems, the water travels upward, carrying the liquid food coloring with it and gradually changing the color of the petals.

Extensions:

  1. Encourage children to experiment with different types of white flowers and observe how they absorb and display the colored water differently.
  2. Discuss with children the science behind capillary action and how it allows plants to transport water and nutrients from the roots to the rest of the plant.
  3. Explore other variations of the experiment, such as using different colors of food coloring or mixing colors to create new shades and effects.
  4. Challenge kids to create hypotheses and conduct experiments to test how factors such as the type of flower, the temperature of the water, or the concentration of the food coloring affect the rate and intensity of color absorption.
  5. Host a "rainbow flower garden" where children can create their own colorful flower arrangements and share their observations and discoveries with each other.

Safety Note:

  • Remind children not to ingest any of the materials used in the experiment. Supervise younger children closely to ensure they handle the scissors and other materials safely

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