Color-Climbing Celery
Three related teacher demonstrations: Color-Climbing Celery, Coin Appears When Water Is Added, Bent Pencil in Water.
Teaching & key ideas
1. Color-Climbing Celery
Materials: Celery stalk/white flower; colored water
What you do: Show a stalk prepared earlier in colored water; cut stem if desired.
What students see: Colored veins/petals appear.
Question: Where did the color travel inside the plant?
2. Coin Appears When Water Is Added
Materials: Opaque cup; coin; water
What you do: Position viewer so rim hides coin, then add water without moving viewer.
What students see: The coin appears.
Question: Did the coin move?
3. Bent Pencil in Water
Materials: Clear cup; water; pencil/straw
What you do: Place pencil partly in water and view from the side.
What students see: It looks bent or broken at the surface.
Question: Is the pencil really bent?
Lesson flow
Predict → observe three demonstrations → compare what changed → choose independent activity station → cleanup/share.
Guiding questions:
Question: Where did the color travel inside the plant?
Question: Did the coin move?
Question: Is the pencil really bent?