Plants

  1. The Anatomy of a Flower

    The Anatomy of a Flower

    Learning Objectives:

    • To understand that the flower is the reproductive centre of the plant.
    • To identify the key parts of the flower involved in reproduction.

     

    What You Need:

    • A selection of different flowers, particularly those with a ‘classic’ structure, such as hibiscus or lilium.
    • A pair of tweezers
    • A scalpel or another small, sharp blade
    • Any magnification tools, such as a magnifying glass, viewer or microscope will also be helpful.

     

    What to do:

    Use the tweezers (or very gently, your fingers) to remove the petals on one side of the flower.

    Use the diagram below as a guide to identify the following parts on your flower:

    Anther: The parts that produce pollen grains. Each pollen grain contains a male sex cell. There will be more than one anther on the flower.

    Filament: The long strands that attach

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  2. Recycled Paper Seedling Pots

    Recycled Paper Seedling Pots

    Recycled Seedling Paper Pots

    Its easy to forget that making paper consumes trees and energy. These recycled paper-pots are not only fun to make, but they give new life to old catalogues and newspapers - reducing waste and helping the earth Raise a seed in your new eco-pot, then, when its time, plant the seedling pot and all in the garden no need to worry because the pots biodegradable and will break down quickly in the soil.

    Suitable for kids aged 5+ with parental supervision

    CAUTIONThis experiment requires the use of hot water.
    You Need:
    • Cup, yoghurt container or bowl to mould your pot
    • Newspaper, or other scrap, used un-wanted paper
    • Large bowl or container
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  3. Colour Change Carnations

    Colour Change Carnations

    Colour Change Carnations

    See how water is absorbed into a plant by changing carnations cool colours.

    Suitable for kids aged 4+ with parental supervision. Only adults should cut the flowers.

    You Need:
    • 6 x white carnation
    • 6 x cups
    • Food colouring (red, yellow, blue and green)
    • Knife (to be used only by an adult)
    • Water
    What to do:
    1. Fill each cup half full with water.
    2. Add about 30 drops of colouring into four different cups. One cup with blue colouring, another red, one yellow and one green. The more food colouring the better.
    3. Before placing any of the flowers in coloured
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