What is the Coloured Carnations Experiment?
The Coloured Carnations Experiment (as found here) is a science experiment that demonstrates the biological structure of plants. By placing flowers in coloured water, students can see the petals changing colour because the water flows through the plant stem.
While this experiment was originally designed for younger children, it provides an interesting analysis on how water flow can be drawn upward through objects and used by organisms to perform different tasks.
What Year 7 & 8 VCAA outcomes does the Coloured Carnations Experiment support?
Coloured Carnations provides interesting options on teaching engineering through mimicking the natural process that brings water up through the stem to the petals. Furthermore, it has links to the sciences in understanding how cells work within biological organisms.
Cells are the basic units of living things and have specialised structures and functions (VCSSU092)
Use scientific knowledge and findings from investigations to identify relationships, evaluate claims and draw conclusions (VCSIS111)
Links to Academic Research & Justification:
The Coloured Carnations Experiment is a useful STEM resource because it is a simple experiment that can be described in complex detail and be used to demonstrate a difficult concept.
In terms of learning theories, Piaget’s Cognitive Constructivism is a tool that can be used in conjunction with this resource. Piaget’s theory understands that “[the learning] process occurs within each individual student at a different rate” and notes that each student must learn at their own pace (Powell & Kalina 2009, p. 243). This is useful because the resource has heavy theory implications and can be difficult to understand.
Furthermore, Powell & Kalina note that, “Substantial individual thought needs to be acquired in content or subject areas for students to actually understand the material instead of just being able to recite it. Providing classroom situations and activities that promote individual learning is required” (2009, p. 242). This is important because the students can actually see the plant at work drawing the water up into the petals, and relate the theory of how cells work within the plant with what they can see.
Soprano & Yang (2012) note that giving students time to “see science” and “do science” is the most important part of developing their understanding (p. 1353) and through the use of the Coloured Carnations experiment that can easily see science at work.
References:
Brandy, 2019, Little Passports. [online] https://www.littlepassports.com/blog/craft-diy/carnation-science-experiment/, retrieved 22nd May 2019
Leanne Guenther, 2019, kidzone. [online] https://www.kidzone.ws/science/carnations.htm, retrieved 30th May 2019
Powell, K. C. & Kalina, C. J. 2009, ‘Cognitive and Social Constructivism: Developing Tools for an Effective Classroom’, Education, 130 (2),241-250. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.
Soprano, K. & Yang, L. 2012, ‘INQUIRING INTO MY SCIENCE TEACHING THROUGH ACTION RESEARCH: A CASE STUDY ON ONE PRE-SERVICE TEACHER’S INQUIRY-BASED SCIENCE TEACHING AND SELF-EFFICACY’, International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 11 (6), 1351 – 1368. doi: 10.1007/s10763-012-9380-x
Victorian curriculum and assessment authority 2017, retrieved 21st May 2019,http://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/
STEM Resources 