I've always loved this experiment, but it's been ages since I've thought about it! I was glancing through a Family Fun idea book and came across this experiment again. I knew Ty would love it, too!
We purchased 4 white carnations from a local market, then came home and trimmed the ends at an angle. Ty carefully poured water in each glass, but he didn't want to add the food coloring, so I did that while he counted out the number of drops. Then Ty placed one flower in each glass, and we began to wait...and wait...and wait. That can be quite difficult for a 3-year old! :) About 2 hours later saw a tinge of blue on the outside of the carnation in blue water. Ty was thrilled!!! Slowly, the petals of the flowers turned blue, green, and red...but the purple never turned. We waited a week...and still no purple! The flower must have been taking in water because it didn't even wilt, but the food coloring was never evident in the petals. I read on Steve Spangler's website that this might happen if there's an air bubble created when you trim the stem. Apparently, the best way to trim stems is under running water to avoid air bubbles, which I recall learning at some point but had forgotten.
While I didn't get into all the science behind this experiment, Tysen and I talked about how the color might be getting into the petals. He knows now that flowers need to drink water to survive and that the stem is like a straw for the flower. He enjoyed checking on his flowers every day and watching the colors deepen.
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| 24 hours after starting the experiment. |
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