SCIENCE AT HOME : FLOWERS AKA BOTANY
For science at home, I’ve got an easy STEM activity to impress your kids! Since it’s spring as I’m writing this, we’re going with flowers, as in Botany! (But you can do this any time of year.)
All you need are bulbs, water, and one week. Voila!
In spring and early summer, I’m more than ready for some garden color. Seeing the pretty crocuses, tulips, and daffodils makes me eager for some of my own.
So let’s do this….don’t be afraid
BULB FIELD TRIP!
A quick field trip to the garden center gave me a plethora of options! (Sorry, you need to buy bulbs, but they are inexpensive and right at the front of the garden center.)
I decided on gladiolus. They are big and showy and bright, and bloom in early June. With my STEM activity, we’ll have flowers speedy quick!
NOW THAT YOU HAVE YOUR BULBS, HERE ARE THE STEPS TO BOTANY MAGIC:
Find a container for your bulbs that will hold 1/4 inch of water.
(I used a plastic container because I went a little overboard at the garden center!)
A saucer will work well!
Put your bulbs in the container, root side down. (Save the package instructions so you know how far down to plant them when you move them to the dirt!)
Add 1/4 ” of water.
Put your bulbs in a sunny window.
Watch your bulbs carefully.
If you’ve got kids at home, have them keep a science notebook with their observations.
Don’t let the bulbs dry out!
I was astounded at how fast the bulbs sprouted in the water!
After a week, I decided it was time to get these bulbs in a pot! (You can put them in the ground if you prefer!) Or if you’re reading this and it’s not spring or summer, keep your beauties in the house in a pot.
Most important is how deep you plant them.
The directions on the bulb package told me how far down to plant the bulbs. For gladiolus, that’s five inches. Rule of thumb, the bigger the bulb, the further down they go.
I wanted to get this out to you so I don’t have my flowers yet, but my glads will look like the pics above! (I’m sure of it!)
Am I delusional? I’ll add my pretty flower pictures in a few weeks and show you that I’m not.
Yes, you’ll have hummingbirds, too!
Your kids or significant others might ask you questions, such as…
HOW DO THE PLANTS KNOW WHICH WAY IS UP OR DOWN?
I am happy to provide that answer for you, so you can look super smart! Then we’ll add your photo to the pics below!
How do plants know which way is up and which way is down? It’s dark in the dirt.
If you’ve ever gotten turned around in a pool, you know to wait for those bubbles so you can tell which way is up.
GRAVITROPISM
Strangely, this is a real puzzle. We still don't know for sure how plants do it. What botanists do know is that plants exhibit gravitropism. The cells in their roots use gravity as a guide for growth. Bubbles don't actively do anything with gravity! But they are affected.
If you’ve even gone on one of those spinning rides, you’ve felt this for yourself.
Gravity increases along the outside as the spin increases. They didn’t have those rides in 1813, but Thomas Knight, a British physiologist, used this concept to do an experiment. He attached seedlings to a spinning plate.
The seedlings all pointed in various directions, and the wheel was spun at 150 revolutions per minute over many days.
A few days later, after the seeds had begun to germinate, the shoots all pointed toward the inside of the wheel, while the roots pointed outward..towards the greater gravity. Here’s a more recent study that provides a few hypotheses as to how this happens.
PHOTOTROPISM
Gravity isn’t the only factor. Charles Darwin observed in his 1880 book, The Power of Movement in Plants, that plants respond to light and move toward the light source. We’ve all seen our house plants orient towards the light. It’s called phototropism.
To make things more complicated, experiments on the ISS (international space station) show that roots apparently don’t need gravity to orient. They’ll grow away from a light source regardless of gravitational forces.
So root orientation a combination of different factors.
Gravitropism and phototropism. I bet you can guess what hydrotropism is….
HYDROTROPISM
The growth or turning of plant roots toward or away from moisture. Surprisingly, scientists don’t know exactly how plants sense and respond to water.
A hormone, auxin has a lot to do with plant physiology, too.
One last fun STEM activity. If your store lettuce is hydroponic (grown in water) you can grow it again! Put the end of the stalk in water! (see below)
Time to enjoy the pretty flowers!
Green thumb or not, you can do this! Let me know how it goes.
I have another fun STEM activity to try here! Easy to do. You probably have the materials around the house, so no shopping necessary.
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PRETTY FLOWERS : SIX WEEK UPDATE ON SCIENCE MAGIC
Quick update: Here’s a pic on the right of the blooms just starting to pop! It’s been fun to watch the science magic…stay tuned for another update.
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So cool. I love this fun and quick way of watching things grow.
Thanks! I hope you try it.
Lovely, Sue. Flowers are such day brighteners, and I love the bulb project.
I agree! Flowers are wonderful.
As usual another great post. You took the mystery out of bulbs for me. Keep it up. Mike
Glad you found it interesting! Thank you!
I was just reading about different vegetables that can regrow from placing the stock on water. I hope to try that with my children!
The lettuce is a no-brainer! Your kids will love it! Be sure to take a few pictures. I’d love to see them.
Such a lovely idea to get kids involved with gardening!
Quick starting in water keeps them interested because it’s so fast. Being able to SEE the roots is intriguing, too. Thanks!
What a bright and informative post. My parents love gardening so growing up I was used to being in gardens centres and being with them as they pottered in the garden, so this post makes me smile. Thank you 🙂
Now you’re making me smile! Thank you!
What a fantastic idea and something fun to try 😁 thanks for sharing
Thanks! I hope you give it a go.
What a great way to add some flowers to the yard!
Definitely! Thanks.
Great post!! I loved the photos!!
Thanks!
My little girl loves flowers and I love all activities I can make educational! Thank you for such a wonderful activity and the explanation behind it! I will definitely be doing this with her.
Fantastic! I’m sure she’ll love it.
This sounds so fun! My kids are fascinated by plants lately, and watching things grow. We’ll have to try this.
I’m sure you’ll have fun with it! Thanks!
I’m sure your plants will look beautiful! Can’t wait until I can do something like this in my own home.
You could keep these in pots in the house, too! They last longer than cut flowers.
This is so cool! I would love to try this, thanks for sharing
Thank you, I hope you try it!
A perfect spring post – thank you! I may try that lettuce growing trick!
It WAS fun to do! Thanks!
This was such an interesting post to read
Thanks! I’m glad you did.
such a fun activity and educational! I might try growing lettuce to see if it works for me!
It will work without question if your lettuce was grown hydroponically!
Get them to learn about nature and plants. Good idea.
Thanks. Hands on STEM is the best. But it’s fun to have flowers, too.
Oo I’ve always wanted to grow my own plants but never got around to it. Some very useful tips in this post too! X
It’s not too labor intensive and full proof! Give it a try.
This looks like such a fun activity! We always plant 100s of bulbs every autumn but I’ll have to remember to save a few for some Spring experiments like this next time – fingers crossed! Lisa
Nice about your bulbs! I bet your yard is lovely. What types do you plant?
Definitely save a few this fall. No need to wait until May. You can start them sooner, keep them indoors and have flowers!
What great growth! I grew a tulip from a bulb a few years back and it worked so well. Hope yours are beautiful when they bloom. And that’s so cool how they know which way to sprout!
Nice that you succeeded with a tulip. I’ll be sure to add post a pic of my flowers. I agree; it is cool.Thanks!
This sounds so much fun and a great activity for kids!
It’s great to do with kids, I agree. Thanks!
This is so cool! What a lovely activity to try! I’ve always loved anything flower and plant related so might have to try this myself! Great post!x
Thanks so much! I love flowers, too. I hope you give this a try!
I wish I had some sort of garden space in which to enjoy a little gardening and some flowers whilst in lockdown
You could still do this without a garden. Just keep your bulbs in a pot in your flat!
This looks so fun! Love the picture of your dog hovering around the plant pots too haha x
https://www.femaleoriginal.com
Thanks! Yes, Louie is a big garden helper. He always thinks any hole I dig needs to be deeper! ha
I love this post! Such a fun activity and you’ve included so many interesting talking points to do with kids. Even though my daughter is grown, I might just do this project for my inner child, lol.
Your inner child! ha I suspect my inner child is quite needy because I love STEM experiments.I’m happy you liked the post. Thank you!
What fun little projects! I bet these would be great to do with the kids in lockdown. I love doing experiments, they always bring out the inner child in me so this should keep me entertained for a while!
Em x
https://www.loveemblog.com/2020/05/a-guide-to-ebay-how-i-make-1000-month.html
Exactly! The shoots sprout so quickly that it keeps even impatient inner children engaged! And maybe the next time you eye your lettuce, you’ll think to give this a go!
I’m impressed, it’s such a good idea. Gardening is definitely a fun activity to do and it can be funny with kids around xx
Thanks! Yes, everything w kids around ends up fun. This one is great to do without kiddies, too, because you end up with flowers! Or lettuce.
Lovely post I am always looking for new ideas to get the kids outdoors, they love watching their sun flowers grow adding some bulbs outdoors will keep them entertained!
Sunflowers! I like sunflowers, too. I’m sure adding bulbs would entertain them!
I love all of these different STEM activities with kids. I think STEM is so important – especially since it is something that really helps our society. I love that you got to grow these bulbs! It is interesting – I always thought plants always grow towards the light and in this case, the sun! Thanks for sharing all of these great facts!
Nancy ♥ exquisitely.me
I love STEM activities, too. Especially when there is something fun to show for it, like flowers. I’m happy that you liked the post!
This sounds like such a great activity, I can’t remember the last time I planted something as a bulb and waited for them to grow, I was probably still in school! The flowers look beautiful. It’s nice when you can see your time and effort become something so pretty! x
Sophie
Well put! It’s great to have that positive reinforcement. Thanks!
Oooh this is amazing, I’m honestly not the greatest gardener, my mum is but I really want to do some gardening!
Love, Amie ❤️
The Curvaceous Vegan
This is an easy way to start growing flowers!
I’ve never been really good at gardening, but I think that this is something which I could easily try out. Looks super fun as well, not just for kids either haha – great post, thanks for sharing x
Thanks! I am sure you could manage this easily!
Those flowers look stunning! If my boyfriend and I didn’t suffer badly from hayfever we would definitely be doing a project like this.
Oh, ouch! I have spring hay fever issues, too. Crocuses, daffodils, and tulips are three bulbs that don’t cause allergy issues. You could consider trying with those, maybe? Or do a test with a bouquet first! Let me know if you do and how it goes!
This is such an interesting and informative post! I absolutely loved reading it! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
melissakacar.blogspot.com
Thanks, Melissa! I love that you loved it!
what a fun project! And I love the cheerful energy of your post
Thanks so much! Flowers are a cheerful topic, which makes it easy. And anticipating comments makes me cheery, too!
Great post! It is great that you are encouraging children to garden and get hands on, especially during this covid19 Lockdown. I have saw a lot of mums sharing activities with their kids but this is definitely one of the best ones I have saw. I love that you have encouraged gardening and science at the same time! Lovely pictures too and Louie is a beauts boxer boy!! My boxer girl Coda would love him xx
Coda! I’m sure she and Louie would be buddies! I’m pumped that you think my STEM activity is at the top! Thanks!
This is such a nice way to get the kids involved in gardening! So cute.
Thanks so much! It also checks lots of boxes when kids–and adults–get their hands dirty. Science and mental health all at once!
I love this article! Such a fun and inclusive way to get the kids involved in gardening,
Thank you so much! Kids, sun, bulbs, and magic. (and sneaking in some science!)
This is cool. I haven’t tried bulbs yet, but I have been having fun trying to get basil to root in water.
I love basil! Great idea. Have you had any luck?
So cool post! It was a very interesting read with a lot of facts!
Unfortunately I think gardening isn’t my thing! I have tryed to plant many times and in many ways but it (almost) always ends very bad 😀 Maybe I need to practise more? Or start with something very simple?
My guess is that you need to water them more? I’m no expert but that’s often the issue. Bulbs in the ground are a pretty good place to start. Lots of them can be planted in the fall, too. Let me know if you want some specific ideas!Happy to try to lend a hand!
Your writing and science fascinates me. The bulb growing is such a good idea. I’ll subscribe, I need to read more!
Oh my goodness, I’d love it if you’d subscribe! I’m happy that you’re fascinated. (I am, too.) Please don’t forget to look for the confirmation email. It often goes to spam. Thanks so much!