Celery Stick Science

Does your kid like to help you water the plants in your home or garden?  We tell our children that the plants and flowers need water to grow and live, but for young concrete thinkers this can be a puzzle.  We humans drink water through our mouths, but what about those plants?  What really happens when you sprinkle that water?  Here’s a classic experiment that demonstrates how plants absorb water.

What You Need: 

• Tall clear glass or jar
• Water
• Red food coloring
• Knife
• Celery stalk with leaves
• One sheet of white printer or drawing paper

What to Do:

1. Fill a tall, clear glass or jar half-full with water.
2. Add a few drops of red food coloring and mix well.
3. Trim the bottom of a large stalk of celery, leaving the leaves on the stalk.
4. Place the celery stalk in the glass or jar.  Leave overnight in order for the stalk to “drink” the water. 
5. Use the sheet of white paper and divide it horizontally into two sections. Label one section “before” and one section “after.” Have your child draw a picture of the celery stalk “before” it drinks the red water and write or dictate a sentence or two to describe what he sees.
6. The next morning, observe what has happened.  Let your child tell you where he thinks the water has gone and what has happened to the celery. (The water has been absorbed into the celery stalk, tinting the stem and leaves red.)  Ask him if he thinks the whole plant gets water for food, and help to guide him to see that yes, the whole plant did get the water for food since all parts of the plant have now turned red (from absorbing the red water that was in the cup the day before). 
7. Have your child complete the “after” portion of the before/after observation sheet and write or dictate his observations.

If your child would like to do this activity again, try this variation: