What You Need:
- Wide bowl filled with water
- Flower template
- Scissors
- Markers
- Colored pencil
What You Do:
Step 1: Cut out the flower template.
Step 2: Decorate your flower with markers. Optional: Write a secret message in the center of the flower using a colored pencil.
Step 3: Gently fold each petal toward the center of the flower.
Step 4: Place the folded flower in the bowl of water and watch the petals. What happens?
Step 5: Remove the flower from the water and let it dry. The wet marker will create a beautiful design, and you can use your flower as a decoration.
What’s Going On:
You used capillary action to make your flower bloom. Water has many important properties and functions. In plants, water acts like a skeleton, helping leaves hold themselves upright. This pressure is called turgor pressure.
When plant leaves wilt and droop, it is because there is not enough water to maintain this pressure. The plant is not dead, but it is a sign that it needs water soon.
A plant’s stem is a transportation system filled with tiny tubes. The attractive force between water molecules and the sides of these tubes is strong enough to draw water up the plant, just as water moved through the paper to make your flower bloom. In the tallest trees, capillary action can pull water up dozens of meters.
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