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Fun with colours


Green Flowers?

Materials

Method

  1. Pour some water and several drops of food dye into the bottom of a jar. Put the flowers in the jar
  2. After a day or so, you will see flecks of colour on the tips of the petals.
  3. In two or three days, the flowers will change colour completely.

Why do the flowers change colour?

Flowers suck up water through their stems into their leaves and petals. The water is carried through tiny veins, which you can't usually see. Food dye shows through the white petals so that the veins are clearly visible. This is why short-stemmed flowers change colour faster than long-stemmed flowers. The water doesn't have to travel as far to reach the leaves and petals, so the dye reaches them sooner.


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