What it shows
Plants store food in roots like carrot and beetroot. If the top is kept in water, it uses that stored food to sprout new leaves.
The science
A carrot is a storage root that holds extra food made by the leaves. When the top is kept in water, the buds at the top use the stored food to grow new green leaves. The plant needs light to turn these leaves into more food. Without light and a proper plant, it cannot make a new carrot.
Materials
Cost: free. Many items come from home or from waste; spare parts such as LEDs, motors and wire are in the store.
- Two carrot tops or beetroot tops cut about 3 cm thick (free from the kitchen)
- A shallow dish
- Pebbles
- Water
- A sunny window
- A ruler and notebook
Safety
For this project: An adult must cut the vegetables. Wash hands after.
Never use mains electricity: power models with cells, batteries or a low-voltage adapter. Sharp and hot tools, flames and lab chemicals need an adult or your teacher beside you. Keep magnets, button cells and small parts away from young children, and wash your hands after making.
All the safety rulesStep by step
8 steps. Do them in order, and test each part before you go on to the next. Write what you notice in a notebook as you go.
Ask an adult to cut the top 3 cm off a carrot and a beetroot.
Place pebbles in the dish and stand the tops cut side down on them.
Pour water into the dish until it reaches half the height of the pebbles.
Place the dish in a bright window.
Change the water every two days.
Draw the carrot top each day and look for tiny green shoots.
Measure the shoots after one week and two weeks.
Write which grew faster, the carrot or the beetroot.
What you should see
Green shoots appear in about five to seven days and grow longer every day.
Viva questions
A teacher or a judge will ask how it works. Try to answer each question before you open it, then compare.
1What is stored in a carrot?
Food made by the plant.
2What does the new shoot use to grow?
The stored food.
3Why does the dish need light?
Leaves need light to make food.
4Why change the water?
To keep it clean and stop rotting.
Take it further
Try a radish top and a potato with eyes and compare what grows.
Change one thing, measure what happens, and add a table or chart of your readings: that is what turns a model into your own investigation.
Free ebooks for this project
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