Science Smarts: Why wait for spring?

By Patty Rooks on January 7, 2023.

I know many of you out there are getting a bit tired of seeing all of that white “stuff” on the ground. If you are like me, you are longing for the beautiful spring days to come so you can get back into your garden and see all the amazing plants grow and bloom. Unfortunately, that will not happen for a while, so I thought, with a little science we could bring some new growth inside. Let’s get started!

*Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment.

Materials

– Small airtight glass jar (with a lid)

– Small pebbles

– Crushed up charcoal

– Potting soil

– Small slow growing plants (ferns, mosses)

– Water

– Sunny location to place your garden in

Procedure

1. Remove the lid from your glass jar. Add a small layer of pebbles (be gentle when you add them in as you can break your glass jar) followed by an equal layer of charcoal.

2. Add twice as much potting soil as the previous two layers.

3. Gently add in your plants. Add as many as you like. Personally, I like the look of a full jar!

4. Water your plants – do not saturate them, just enough until the soil is moist.

5. Put the lid tightly on the jar.

6. Place your new garden in the sunlight.

7. Observe once and while to see the similarities between your closed garden and how other plants in your house may be growing.

What is going on?

I am sure you are wondering how this garden can grow if the lid is closed so tightly. There is no fresh air or water getting to the plants. Will they live?

Yes, they will and they should thrive quite well in fact! In your bottle garden, the food cycle of the plants is just like it would be if they were growing in the “open air”.

The plants will absorb water from the soil and this will then evaporate most of this through the leaves. You will see that this will also form on the glass as water droplets, slowly falling into the soil below.

They are also able to make chlorophyll from the sunlight – which will help feed the plants through the process of photosynthesis. Who knew so much could be going on in such a little garden?!

Teachers – if your school is interested in having a science fair club, make sure you call soon so I can pop by and give you some great pointers!

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.

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