You can share the excitement by trying some simple science experiments using house plants or flowers that you may have already in your home; by doing this you'll be teaching your child that there is a constant correlation between our everyday lives and the wonders of science.
Plant Shopping
Start out by telling your children how you ended up with the houseplants you already have. Was it the color or beauty that drew you to them? Do they freshen the air in your living room? Take your children to a plant shop and let them pick out a few plants of their own. At the flower shop you'll see all the interesting and beautiful house plants and flowers available to us in this area.
When you are in the flower shop, encourage your children to explore. Tell them the names of the plants that they like. If you're unsure of the plant names, ask the people working in the greenhouse-they are generally more than willing to help you and your children. Teach your children the characteristics of the plants. For example, some plants need little water and indirect sun, while other plants need sunlight and regular watering.
The Sunlight Experiment
Try some simple experiments at home; this will let your children discover some of the remarkable properties that house plants have. This first experiment explains to your children how important sunlight is to plant life and its growth. The point of this experiment is to demonstrate how plants need light to grow and survive, whether it's sunlight or artificial light.
You will need some black construction paper, tape, scissors, a ruler and a pencil to complete this experiment. Choose a house plant and place it on the kitchen table. Allow your children to examine the plant's leaves, stem, color and size.
Using a ruler measure one of the leaves and cut out two squares of black construction paper that will completely cover it. Sandwich the black construction paper around the leaf and tape it so that it fits snugly and blocks all light.
Return the plant to its spot. Leave the paper on for 7 full days undisturbed. At the end of the 7 days carefully take off the black con-struction paper patch and notice the results. The leaf will now be white, without color or life. The other leaves on the plant, however, should appear as green and vibrant as normal.
Explain to your children what happened. Chlorophyll, the chemical that makes leaves green, is vital to photosynthesis, the process that changes sunlight into usable energy. Without light, chlorophyll is useless. It won't produce energy or pigment. The leaf that you had blacked out will eventually die.
The Growth Experiment
The next plant experiment deals with ivy house plants. This experiment will teach children how plants can grow and regenerate on their own with the help of nothing besides a supply of simple tap water. All you'll need are some scissors, a glass jar or vase, water and an ivy plant.
Snip a six inch piece from the ivy plant and place it, cut end down, in a glass container that is three quarters filled with water. Set the plant cutting near a window so that it will get some sunlight; it does not need direct exposure.
Wait a few days and check the plant cutting. Roots should start to appear. At first they will look like thin strands of thread, and as the days go by they will become thicker and longer. After a couple of weeks the roots will look thick and strong and will be ready for re-potting in soil. This experiment shows children how you can take one plant and then by taking a cutting from it make another plant or plants. This is a wonderful way to demonstrate how plants and spread: as they get torn apart they can replant themselves.
The Colored Flower Experiment
Our third plant experiment involves a long-stemmed white carnation. In addition to the flower, you'll also need two tall glass vases or jars and two diffe¬rent, contrasting vials of food coloring.
The first thing you'll need to do is split the stem of the carnation halfway up to the blossom. Fill each of the glass containers halfway with water, and add enough food coloring to each to make it a good, strong color. I have found that blue and red coloring work very well with this experiment.
Place the glass containers close together and insert half of the split carnation stem in one glass and the other half of the stem into the other glass. Leave this whole assembly in a spot where it won't be disturbed for at least 48 hours. The results will be amazing: your child will see how the food coloring is carried up through the stem and into the blossom of the flower-and how the 2 different colors impart two different hues to the flower. This is a wonderful way for children to see cause and effect, to learn how a plant drinks up water and takes on the values and property of the liquid it is drinking.
These simple experiments help to introduce the miracles of plant life, and by using common houseplants and flowers, they show that everything in our lives is touched by science. These basic experiments demonstrate to your child that we should all stop and take a look at everything around us so that we can try to better understand the inner workings of nature around us.
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