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Science Y3/Y4 – Plants – week 9

PLANTS AND WATER

Truth to Teach (Source)

To ascertain how important water is to plants.

To discuss spiritual parallels.

To conduct experiments on water and plants to show:
 that plants contain water
 water moves around in the plant
 water condenses from a plant

Way to Work (Means)

1. Review previous lessons.

2. Discuss the importance of water to a plant.

3. Read Psalm 1, Isaiah 55:10, Jeremiah 17:7-8 and 1 Corinthians 3:6-8. Discuss the
parallels between plants requiring water and our spiritual lives. Talk about an average-
sized tree needing 100 litres of water a day. Talk about how plants get their water
through the roots, how it travels through the plant by capillary action and how it
evaporates from the plant.

4. Set questions for the children to set up experiments to answer:

a) Do plants contain water?
Experiment 1:
Slice up cucumber and weigh it. Measure the same amount of dry rice. Put both on a
baking tray with water in the lid of a jar. Put them in a low-heated oven. After an hour,
weigh the rice and cucumber again. The water will have evaporated from the jar and from
the cucumber. Let the children discuss the results.

b) Does water move around the plant?
Experiment 2
Put a centimetre of water into a jar with a teaspoon of red food colouring. Put a piece of
celery or a daffodil into it and observe daily. Let the children design a table to record
their observations.

c) Does water evaporate from plants?
Experiment 3
Place a dry plastic bag over several green leaves on a tree and secure it with a tie.
Observe the bag over a period of time. Record observations over several days.

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