Praxis: Thoughts of spring will sprout soon

By Patty Rooks on February 22, 2020.

praxis@praxismh.ca@PraxisMedHat

I hope that everyone enjoyed the week break from school! It was a nice week weather wise. I hope that you were able to get outside and enjoy some of those great winter sports we are so fortunate to have around here. Of course, the warmer weather has me thinking about spring. I am not sure if it is just around the corner or not, but I thought I would get a head start on growing some things inside. Let’s get started!

*Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment.

Materials

– cotton balls

– water

– two bowls

– two empty egg shells

– alfalfa or radish seeds

– dark cupboard

– sunny shelf

Procedure

1. Place one egg shell in each in of the bowls.

2. Wet a few cotton balls, and squeeze them out so they are just moist.

3. Place a few cotton balls in each of the egg shells. The egg shells should be about half full.

4. Sprinkle some seeds on top of the cotton balls in each egg shell.

5. Place one egg shell in the cupboard and the other on the sunny shelf.

6. Check the egg shells each day. Water as necessary, they need to stay moist.

7. After about a week, remove the egg shell from the cupboard and place it next to the one that was on the sunny shelf.

8. Observe.

9. Do you notice anything different?

What is going on?

Even though you had one of the egg shells in the cupboard, it should have also sprouted quite well. The difference you should have observed is in the colour and look of the sprouts. The sprouts that were in the dark cupboard should have been a lighter green and likely not as tall or a bit “spindly.” The sprouts that grew on the sunny shelf were likely vibrant green colour. This is because plants have a green pigment in their leaves that help make food from sunlight. When the plant was exposed to the sunlight it was able to grow quite healthy dark green sprouts.

Do not forget the Regional Science fair is fast approaching. Free registration will end on March 14 so we can have everything ready for all of our scientists that will be judging on March 20. It will be a busy day, but also a great time to stop by Medicine Hat College to see what these students have been up to for the past few months. I know I cannot wait to see!

Patty Rooks, Senior Scientific Consultant PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community”. Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, http://www.praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook. Address: #12 826 11 Street S. E., Medicine Hat, Alberta, T1A 1T7 Phone: 403.527.5365, email: praxis@praxismh.ca.