This week’s Unplug your kid’s challenge was trees. We had a bunch of complex projects planned out, but no time to really execute them. Jaylene is practicing piano more than usual in order to prepare for her first exam on the 23rd and we were going to be out all weekend. So when I saw Pepper Paint’s magic science post I knew that was the route we were going to go! I’d been wanting to do the colored celery experiment for awhile and this week serendipitiously had all the supplies needed. Not that much was needed!
We colored water (and our fingers!)
Then Jaylene picked the tree-like part of the celery and stuck them in the cups.
I asked her what she thought would happen overnight, and she guessed that the water would make the “trees” grow taller. We waited to find out that…
the trees were now fun colors. We discovered that it only worked if you stuck the stem in the water, and not the leaf. We’ve been on an “Eating more vegetables” kick lately and this was a good example of how what you take in goes all through your body.
When we were walking to the pool on Saturday, we saw this name plate for a nearby community:
It’s just a name, and they come up with some pretty unique names for communities here, but I thought it would be a great way to remind yourself to reduce, reuse and recycle everyday.
I’d like to do more science type experiments with Jaylene. What are your favorites that you do with your kids, or that you remember doing?
14 comments
Comments feed for this article
August 18, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Meg
I love the celery…I’m an environmental science instructor, and even the adults seem to love this one!
I haven’t done science per se with E yet, but with my adult students, I think open ended (yet guided) experiments are valuable. For example, we have these little “fortune fish” that curl up in your hand to tell your mood. We ask students to design an experiment to figure out how this works. For a little kid, you could say, “Do you think it’s heat? Do you think it’s your heartbeat? How can we tell?” Then try a blow dryer, or an ice cube…things like that. I don’t remember how old your daughter is, but we did this with 3rd graders and they got a kick out of it.
Also, young kids like the boat design activity. Take some pieces of aluminum foil (same size) and make some boats of different designs. Then put them in water and see which one will hold more pennies. Try to figure out why, and improve your design. They will spend LOTS of time on this one!
Meg
August 18, 2008 at 11:39 pm
dayna
I love that you asked Jaylene to predict what would happen overnight…so great!!
August 19, 2008 at 12:49 am
Helena
Cool! I think we did that with carnations once.
August 19, 2008 at 2:10 am
Christie
This is always fun. I should really do it with Cali. I know she would love it too.
August 19, 2008 at 2:46 am
Heather
Cool Project. I love that sign to. Really cool.
August 19, 2008 at 4:18 am
Heather
I know my boys would love this. It’s going on our “to do” list.
August 19, 2008 at 5:40 am
sbascom
I don’t do experiments except when forced. I can tell you that Kirkland Signature is a very good brand of laundry detergent and that my homemade pizza (yes, homemade crust) was voted better than Pizza Hut, Dominoes, and a grocery store pizza in a blind (insofar as possible) taste test.
I also know that building bridges out of toothpicks and white glue is time consuming and messy. And it’s irritating, because the child has to test it to destruction.
August 19, 2008 at 10:42 am
Michelle
I love this! I’m going to try this with my sons this week!
August 19, 2008 at 10:44 am
Bobbie
fantastic.. I am so going to do this one with the girls.. I have some wilting celery in the fridge right as I type this 🙂
YOu are always so good at “thinking outside the box” I always look forward to reading your unplugged post, as I know it will always be a good one!! * hee hee no pressure or anything 😉
August 19, 2008 at 10:48 am
Amanda @ www.kiddio.org
What a fun idea–I remember doing this with daisies or carnations, but celery would be fun to eat in the end! Thanks for the comment on my blog, too; I’m so pleased you’re liking what you find on kiddio 🙂
August 19, 2008 at 10:56 am
Michie
I’ve done this with carnations before. I might have to give this one a try with my daughter. I am going to try to do some more little science projects in my classroom this year too. Maybe I can give this one a try too.
August 19, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Hagit
Probably my favorite experiment as a child was to wet cotton wool and put beans in it. After a few days a plant would grow. I thought it was magic.
August 19, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Heather
I got your comment on my arty kind of day post. I am not really sure if you want them to exchange the characters or not. If you do that would be wonderful. We are just starting to learn about them so we are not very good at it, but it would be fun to try. Or if you just want a pen pal that would be great to. E-mail me and let me know.
August 20, 2008 at 5:46 am
bekaboo
I love that colored celery! We used to do that with white flowers. Once again, you are such a cool mom.