You know that you have a skeleton, but did you know that leaves have them too? They are not made of bone like ours are, but they do serve the same purpose: provide support for the organism. In this activity you will use household chemicals to remove the leaf tissue and leave behind just the skeleton. Be sure to try leaves from different type of plants. What do they have in common? What is different? How is this similar to skeletons of different mammals shown here? Materials:
Parent Tips:
How To Link: Here is a link to the instructions, including pictures. Thanks to Fizzicseducation for this activity. What's Happening: All living things need to be able to get food and water to live and grow. Mammals (like us) have a circulatory system that transports blood to every part of the body. Our circulatory system is made up of veins and arteries. Plants also have a circulation system called vascular bundles, made up of xylem and phloem. When the leaf is put in the baking soda solution and bleach, these chemicals react with the tissue that makes up the leaf. The vascular bundles are a bit tougher so they are the last the dissolve. If you take the leaf out at the right time, only the skeleton will remain. If you leave it too long, it will all disappear. Share Your Experience: If you do this experiment feel free to post pictures in the comments section below. Happy Experimenting!
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Every school day I will post a new experiment for you to try at home. Some may be familiar to you - as they are my favorites from class - but most will be experiments I found on the web that have readily available materials. Happy Sciencing! Earn a Patch
Sunol Glen Students - Complete an additional 10 experiments (20 total) from this site and I will send you this patch: Parents - just email me when students have completed a challenge, no proof required. Categories |