Transcript Document
Title How long will it take colored water to affect the color of a white flower? Purpose The purpose of this project is to find out how long it will take colored water to affect the color of a white flower. Research How do plants absorb water? A plant stem absorbs water like a straw. This process is called capillary action. When the leaves receive the water, it goes through the stomata. This process spreads the water throughout the leaves and any blossoms on the stems. http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/ geophysics/h2o5.htm Research Is there a rate of how quickly stemmed flowers absorb water? Conditions like heat, wind, and dry air can increase the rate of transpiration from a plant’s leaves, causing water to move more quickly through the xylem. Hypothesis If I add 2 drops of food coloring to 200 ml of water in a vase of two stems of carnations, then I think it will take three days to see any change to the color of the white flowers. Procedure Experiment design Selected white carnations as the test flower All stems were cut to 19 cm in length All vases had exactly 200 ml of water added All vases had exactly two drops of food coloring added (except for the control group) All vases were kept on the same table surrounded by the same conditions Procedures To increase the validity of our experiment, several stems were placed in each vase. A control group was established. Procedure 1. Get 10 – 12 white carnations (Hint: Need 10 – extras in case incorrect measurements are made when trimming the stems) 2. Cut each stem to 19 cm in length. 3. Add 200 ml of water to each of the five vases 4. Create a grid with tape over the top of the vase to hold the flower stems in place. 5. Carefully add two drops of food coloring to each vase, and mixed well. Note: No dye was added to the Control group. Different color dye was added to the remaining four vases (yellow, red, blue, and green) 6. Label each group clearly: i.e. Control, Group 1-Yellow, Group 2 – Blue, Group 3 – Red, and Group 4 – Green) 7. Observe the flowers using a hand lens and document change using photography. Procedures 1. Get 10 – 12 white carnations (Hint: Need 10 – extras in case incorrect measurements are made when trimming the stems) 2. Cut each stem to 19 cm in length. 3. Add 200 ml of water to each of the five vases 4. Create a grid with tape over the top of the vase to hold the flower stems in place. 5. Carefully add two drops of food coloring to each vase, and mixed well. Note: No dye was added to the Control group. Different color dye was added to the remaining four vases (yellow, red, blue, and green) 6. Label each group clearly: i.e. Control, Group 1-Yellow, Group 2 – Blue, Group 3 – Red, and Group 4 – Green) 7. Observe the flowers using a hand lens and document change using photography. Materials 5 – vases (approx. 11 cm tall) 12 – long stemmed carnations Assorted food coloring Tape Post it notes for labels Metric ruler Water Liquid measuring tools Camera Magnifying lenses Do your experiment. Have fun ! Make Charts and Graphs Time line change graph Results From observing the flowers daily and creating the change graph, we learned that some flower’s colors can change quicker than others when exposed to colored water. Some changed as quickly as within 24 hours. It took some flowers several days to show any change in their blossom color. Conclusion Our hypothesis was not supported by the evidence that we collected during our experiment. We think that from learning about the process of how plants absorb water, we should have predicted that the color change would have taken place in a shorter period of time. Conclusion Example: My hypothesis was supported. The plants that were watered with coffee ( caffeine ) grew taller than those that were given water. Therefore, caffeine has a positive effect on the growth of pea plants. This may be due the fact that caffeine is a stimulant. The caffeine could have stimulated the plant to grow. Future Considerations Tell what variable you would change if you could do the experiment again. Tell how you might take your experiment to the next step. Future Considerations If we could do this experiment again, the variable that we would change would be to add 5 drops of dye to each vase. We would use 250 ml of water per vase. We think it would be interested to mix some primary colors to expand the selection of colors. We felt that yellow might not have been a good color to use. It was too similar in color to the natural color of the flower. We would want to limit each stem to not have more than 3 buds on them. Make Your Board Start your information on the top left panel of the board, move down the left panel, across the middle panel, and from the top down on the right panel. Place pictures of your experiment on your board. Make your Board Helpful Resources Science Fair Web Pages http://www.sciencebuddies.org/index_A.htm Best site for help through out project! http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/fair.html This is a good site explaining the parts of a science fair project. http://edweb.tusd.k12.az.us/jtindell/ A web site for children to use in setting up their science fair project http://school.discovery.com/sciencefaircentral A great site! It has info for parents, teachers, and students. It has project ideas, research tools, and tip sheets for all kinds of projects. Bringing It Together Keys for success: †Make a time-line and stick to it. †Parental support †Organization