Celery Experiments

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We were discussing how plants transport water from the roots to the rest of the plant in a 1st grade lesson. We set up a celery experiment, with a stalk sitting in colored water, allowing you to see the water to move up the “tubes” in the stem. Educators also cut up a piece of celery for students to eat, and encouraged the kids to look closely at the celery piece before eating it. Most the students took a quick look and then ate the celery. But William, a student in Mrs. Wokanick’s 1st grade class at Sargent Elementary, ran up to me excitedly because he had eaten the small celery piece very carefully and actually ate around a tube. “Look Miss Megan, I found the tube!!”

HVS always strives to inspire both students and teachers, so it is always exciting when a teacher extends a Garden Time lesson into other parts of the school day. Mrs. Lee, 1st grade teacher at South Ave. Elementary, was able to extend our most recent lesson in an engaging and exciting way for the students. Later in the same week when we had done the celery experiment, I ran into a class in the hallway and they all excitedly told me that the experiment worked! The students also told me that the teacher had extended the lesson by doing the same experiment again, but with a flower. In the hallway, all of the students were saying “Guess what Miss Megan!? The flower is starting to change color so the tubes in the flower stem are working!”

You can do this experiment easily at home - sure to delight kids of all ages!