Water and Plants in Action
45-60 min
5-10
What Will You Learn?
You will learn how plants absorb water and how they carry it from their roots to the flowers. We will know the xylem and the capillary action.
Engage
A great idea to do prior to our project is to brainstorm questions about plants, What is your favorite plant? What is the stem? For as they move forward, get to the question, how do plants get water from the roots to the leaves?
Place Your Celery in Colored Water
Step 1
Fill each jar halfway with water, then pour a drop of food coloring into each glass.
Step 2
Cut about an inch off the bottom of the celery stalks.
Step 3
Place the celery stalks in the coloring water and let them rest for about 20 minutes.
Check Celery
Step 4
Open the celery stalks to better see how the color travels through the stalks.
Step 5
Leave another celery for a longer time (40 minutes) and look at the stalks, what do you see? The color should start to appear in small spots on the ends of the celery, and even on the leaves.
Step 6
What is happening?
The answer is small tubes within the stem, called xylem. They draw water from the roots like a straw through a process called capillary action.
Capillary action is what happens when water rises through things, this because it is sticky, for example after washing your hands, the drops that stick to your fingers.
The water clings to the walls of a tube and begins to rise a few inches. It also sticks to itself, thus attracting more water as it rises. Gradually, capillary action allows water to rise to all the different parts of a plant through the xylem tubes in the stem.
The leaves help the water to move up the xylem. They have small holes that let out the extra water that the plant uses, so more water can rise
What's Next?
You can experiment with other plants, such as flowers that will paint the petals, over time how long does it take to completely paint a celery?
Take it Further?
You can experiment more about the xylem and the stem by creating a zip line mechanism.
Using cardboard, colored sheets, scissors, string, glue, a straw, and metal circles you can take your creativity further.
Reflection
What is in the stem of plants? What is xylem? What is capillary action? How does the water get from the roots to the plants?
Further Resources
More info
Khan Academy: https://youtu.be/eQXGpturk3A
FuseSchool: https://youtu.be/jtuX7H05tmQ
About MoonMakers
MoonMakers — led by Camila and Diego Luna — are a community of creators passionate about knowledge. A Makerspace, an open space with different digital manufacturing machines. And a YouTube channel where we promote science, technology and the maker movement.
MoonMakers have collaborated with companies such as: Sesame Street, Make Community and in Mexico with Educational Television and Fundación Televisa, creating educational content.
We have given workshops throughout the Mexican Republic with: Talent Land, Secretary of Education in Jalisco, Conacyt, Centro Cultural España.
Materials:
- Containers (glass jars)
- Celery
- Water
- Food Coloring
- Knife
Vocabulary:
- Xylem: a lignified conductive plant tissue that supplies fluids from one part of vascular plants to another. It carries water, mineral salts and other nutrients from the roots to the leaves of the plants.
- capillary action: it is important to move the water (and all the things that are dissolved in it). It is defined as the movement of water within the spaces of a porous material, due to adhesion forces and surface tension
- adhesion: Adhesion is the property of matter by which two surfaces of the same or different substances join and form when they come into contact, and are held together by intermolecular forces.
- roots: it is the organ belonging to plants that is introduced into the earth or in a different body to absorb the substances necessary for the plant to grow and develop
- stem: it is the organ that supports the leaves, flowers and fruits. Its main functions are to support and transport photosynthates between roots and leaves.
Maker Camp Project Standards
Based on NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards)
NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards)
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are K–12 science content standards.Structure and Properties of Matter
- Grades K-2
- 2-PS1-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.
- 2-PS1-2. Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.
- 2-PS1-3. Make observations to construct an evidence-based account of how an object made of a small set of pieces can be disassembled and made into a new object.
- 2-PS1-4. Construct an argument with evidence that some changes caused by heating or cooling can be reversed and some cannot.
- Grades 3-5
- 5-PS1-1. Develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.
- 5-PS1-2. Measure and graph quantities to provide evidence that regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of matter is conserved.
- 5-PS1-3. Make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties.
- 5-PS1-4. Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.
- Middle School
- MS-PS1-1. Develop models to describe the atomic composition of simple molecules and extended structures.
- MS-PS1-3. Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society.
- MS-PS1-4. Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.
- High School
- HS-PS1-1. Use the periodic table as a model to predict the relative properties of elements based on the patterns of electrons in the outermost energy level of atoms.
- HS-PS1-3. Plan and conduct an investigation to gather evidence to compare the structure of substances at the bulk scale to infer the strength of electrical forces between particles.
- HS-PS1-8. Develop models to illustrate the changes in the composition of the nucleus of the atom and the energy released during the processes of fission, fusion, and radioactive decay.
- HS-PS2-6. Communicate scientific and technical information about why the molecular-level structure is important in the functioning of designed materials.
Chemical Reactions
- Middle School
- MS-PS1-2. Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.
- MS-PS1-5. Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved.
- MS-PS1-6. Undertake a design project to construct, test, and modify a device that either releases or absorbs thermal energy by chemical processes.
- High School
- HS-PS1-2. Construct and revise an explanation for the outcome of a simple chemical reaction based on the outermost electron states of atoms, trends in the periodic table, and knowledge of the patterns of chemical properties.
- HS-PS1-4. Develop a model to illustrate that the release or absorption of energy from a chemical reaction system depends upon the changes in total bond energy.
- HS-PS1-5. Apply scientific principles and evidence to provide an explanation about the effects of changing the temperature or concentration of the reacting particles on the rate at which a reaction occurs.
- HS-PS1-6. Refine the design of a chemical system by specifying a change in conditions that would produce increased amounts of products at equilibrium.
- HS-PS1-7. Use mathematical representations to support the claim that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved during a chemical reaction.
CCSS (Common Core State Standards)
The Common Core is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA).English Language Arts Standards » Science & Technical Subjects
- Middle School
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- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.3 Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.4 Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 6-8 texts and topics.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.5 Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to an understanding of the topic.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.6 Analyze the author's purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an experiment in a text.
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- High School
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- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.9-10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to the precise details of explanations or descriptions.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.9-10.3 Follow precisely a complex multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks, attending to special cases or exceptions defined in the text.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 9-10 texts and topics.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.9-10.5 Analyze the structure of the relationships among concepts in a text, including relationships among key terms (e.g., force, friction, reaction force, energy).
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.9-10.6 Analyze the author's purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an experiment in a text, defining the question the author seeks to address.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to important distinctions the author makes and to any gaps or inconsistencies in the account.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.3 Follow precisely a complex multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks; analyze the specific results based on explanations in the text.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.4 Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 11-12 texts and topics.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.5 Analyze how the text structures information or ideas into categories or hierarchies, demonstrating understanding of the information or ideas.
- CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.11-12.6 Analyze the author's purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an experiment in a text, identifying important issues that remain unresolved.
NGSS K-2 Engineering Design
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are K–12 science content standards.- K-2-ETS1-1. Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.
- K-2-ETS1-2. Develop a simple sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem.
- K-2-ETS1-3. Analyze data from tests of two objects designed to solve the same problem to compare the strengths and weaknesses of how each performs.
NGSS 3-5.Engineering Design
The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are K–12 science content standards.- 3-5-ETS1-1. Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
- 3-5-ETS1-2. Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
- 3-5-ETS1-3. Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.
