Timeline on a science experiment for my daughter.

[timbo]

Hi there,
I've got a question that's a little out of left field. My daughter has a science project at school coming up, and each child is allowed to pick anything they like. I suggested something I came across online not so long ago, as I think it would really present well. The basic idea is that you take a bunch of white flowers, stick them in a jar, toss in some food coloring with the water, and wait for the results. Those in the clip looked really impressive - the edges of the flowers take on the hue of the food dye. I thought it would look kind of neat if we stuck small bunches of 4 - 5 in five different vases and put in the five basic colors of the rainbow, one color in each vase. Now off the top of my head, every time I buy flowers for my wife i think they tend to last somewhere between 1 to 2 weeks with the nutrient you're given to throw in the water, right? Because she needs to present the flowers to the classroom to show the results, we need to time it right - enough time so the coloring gets a chance to have an effect, but not too soon so that the flowers start dying off before the presentation.

Any suggestions for a timeline on this? And could some types of food coloring be toxic to flowers? Also, any idea what the flowers are in the clip - or suggestions for alternatives?

Here's the clip i saw for those interested - the flower experiment is about the 3rd or 4th one shown.

Thanks...........Tim


http://sfglobe.com/2014/12/17/simpl...-for-home/?src=fbfan_29929&t=fbad&k=ip2a4g1t1

 

[marlingardener]

Tim, what is your daughter interested in doing for her science project? Does she want to do a project like this, or perhaps something else that is less time sensitive?
Carnations absorb colors easily, and are often used for color-themed weddings, etc. If you use the food colorings from the grocery store (usually sold in a box of five colors with little droplet tops) they won't be toxic to the flowers. Since it doesn't take very long for the carnations to absorb the colors (two to three days) you could easily do this in a short time period.
My question is, what scientific principle is shown by this experiment, and how will your daughter explain it? She might want to look into osmosis, and use her colored flowers as an example.

 

[timbo]

Tim, what is your daughter interested in doing for her science project? Does she want to do a project like this, or perhaps something else that is less time sensitive?
Carnations absorb colors easily, and are often used for color-themed weddings, etc. If you use the food colorings from the grocery store (usually sold in a box of five colors with little droplet tops) they won't be toxic to the flowers. Since it doesn't take very long for the carnations to absorb the colors (two to three days) you could easily do this in a short time period.
My question is, what scientific principle is shown by this experiment, and how will your daughter explain it? She might want to look into osmosis, and use her colored flowers as an example.

The point to the experiment is to essentially show, via the colors, the nature of capillary action. So your recommendation is carnations? I'll start looking! And thank you for the timeline - I had thought it might take at least a week for the colors to show, which is why I was a little concerned about how long they'd last. But if it only takes a few days we'll be fine.

Thanks again. If it works as we hope I'll take a picture and post it on here.

Tim

 

[Sheal]

Timbo why don't you and your daughter have a trial run before the project is due, that will give you the time scale needed. This link may help you......

http://www.wikihow.com/Dye-Flowers