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Kids Experiments with Carrots
What can kids learn from experimenting with a carrot? Try these simple experiments.
| Navigation of this page: | Cross Section | Giant Carrot | ||||
| Imprint | Make a Carrot Battery |
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Also, you must try Mr Carrot Head - Make a unique face to
keep! Click here. See the Carrot Toys page here. Kids Craft items here. More games and tricks on the Fun page here. Learn to draw a carrot here (Utube) Origami Carrot Watch a very simple instructional video here. |
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Fun with Roots Experiment No1 - Get to the root What You Need: 3 Carrots; Sharp knife; Cutting board; Glass; Water; Red food colouring What You Do: 1. Fill a glass half full with water. 2. Cut the end tip off of a carrot. Ask an adult to help you! 3. Put the carrot in the glass of water. 4. Put the glass near a window that lets in sunshine. 5. Watch the carrot for a few days. What Is Happening The carrot itself is really what we call a "taproot." This is a big and main root that grows straight down into the ground. Along its sides, little roots grow, too. Some trees, plants and bushes have a major taproot; others do not. Roots are really important! They hold a plant in place when it is windy. They keep soil around the plant . And most of all, roots conduct water from the soil up to the plant. |
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Experiment No
2 -
Root
Fun No 2 - absorption 1. Repeat the first experiment with a new carrot, but this time put 10 drops of red food colouring into the glass of water. 2. Put the carrot in the water for several days. 3. Put the carrot on the cutting board and with the help of an adult, cut the carrot in half. Look inside. You will see red colouring in the tubes of the carrot that go from the bottom to the top of it. This shows you that water was being absorbed by the bottom or tip of the carrot and traveling up the inside of the carrot. This is how plants and trees get water from their roots. Experiment No 3 - Root cross section Repeat this same experiment as above but this time cut the carrot in a cross section. Then you can look at how the carrot is structured from that point of view. What Is Happening?
R Try steaming, baking or eating these taproots raw! As you think about plants that we eat, check out which veggies we eat that are the stem parts, the leaves, or the flowering part of the plant. Some plants, stems, roots, taproots and flowers are delicious! |
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What You
Need: Try this one as well: Colour the water with ink or food colouring. After the water has risen in the straw, cut the carrot in half. What do you see? Is the ink spread evenly throughout the carrot, or are there main veins? What could the other parts of the carrot be for? Are they coloured at all? Try putting limp carrot sticks in fresh water. What happens? How long does it take them to become to become stiff again?
(a) - Easy Peasy
- Cut the top off a carrot leaving about 1/2 inch of the orange part
and the same amount of green stems if the carrot has already started sprouting
from the top. Press the carrot piece into damp sand or soil in a saucer or
bowl. Just put a little water into the dish if sand/soil are not available.
Soon pretty leaves will appear and hey presto you have a nice plant to keep
at a window in bright light.
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You should always "dig in" any giant vegetable deep with lots of organic matter, take extra care over feeding, watering and pest control and, if showing, harvest at the very last moment for freshness.
Fill a 6in-wide 4 foot long drainpipe with clean fine sand. (Always be optimistic). Make a hole in the sand with a long pole and fill it with good potting compost. Sow three seeds in the compost and thin to the best one when they have germinated.
Water from the top for the first two months and thereafter from the bottom to encourage the roots to seek out moisture. At harvest time wash out as much sand as possible using a hosepipe before very gently pulling up the carrot. If you pull too hard you may damage the long tapering root.
Here is an example of Hunkins fine work. For more examples see the web site. Click here.
This activity uses a common carrot and
two different metals to make a enough electricity to run a small digital
clock.
Materials: Two Large Raw Carrots; 2 Pennies; 2 Large Galvanized Nails; 3
pieces of 6" long wire; Small Digital Clock (Tandy (Radio Shack) or Maplin
- "Stick-on Timer" £3.50/ $4.99.
The digital clock can be extracted from an inexpensive alarm clock or it
can be purchased from an electronics store.
Slice of about 1 inch from each carrot and discard. Place the remaining pieces
next to each other, flat face down on a plate.
Strip off about 2 inches of insulation from both ends of each wire.
Wrap one end of one wire around one of the nails. Press the nail into one
of the carrots pieces.
Wrap one end of another wire around one of the pennies. Do this by first
laying the penny across the exposed wire. Position the penny so it is centered
on the wire and almost touching where the wire insulation begins. Fold the
end of the exposed wire over the top of the penny. Pinch the penny and wire
between your index finger and thumb on one hand and pinch the overlapping
wire with the other hand. Twist the penny until the wire tightens around
the penny. Press the edge of the penny about half way into the other carrot.
You could drill holes in the pennies to make it easier to attach the wires.
Attach one end of the third wire to the nail and the other end to the penny.
(see photo below)
Insert the nail into the carrot that already has the penny stuck into it
then stick the penny into the carrot that already has the nail stuck into
it.
Pop the back off the timer and remove the button battery
Connect the two wires coming from the potato battery to the contact on the
battery holder. If the clock does not illuminate the polarity (+ / -) might
be incorrect. Touch the wires to the opposite contacts on the timer's battery
holder.
How does it work?
The carrot contains phosphoric acid. This acid causes chemical reactions
to occur at each of the electrodes (galvanized nail and copper penny). The
reaction at the copper electrode strips electrons from the copper and attaches
them to the Hydrogen ions (2H+) in the phosphoric acid. This depletes the
electrons on the copper electrode which makes if "hungry" for more. The process
creats Hydrogen gas.
The galvanized nail provides the Zinc needed for the other reaction. The
reaction at the galvanized nail dissolves the Zinc. The dissolving process
strips electrons from the Zinc atoms. The liberated electrons stay on the
electrode and the resulting Zinc ions (Zn++) migrate into the acidic juices
of the potato. This results in an excess of electrons on the Zinc electrode.
If a wire is connected between the Zinc nail and the copper penny, electrons
will flow. This flow of electrons is the electrical voltage.
When the battery was to an oscilloscope and measured a voltage of 0.5 Volts.
Several carrot batteries can be connected in series to generate a higher
voltage. The experiment also works (better!) with potato.
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Swallow a Goldfish (trick) |
Swallowing a Live Goldfish! (The Secret).
You're not going to believe the method.
It's so ridiculous, but it works! What you need:
One carrot. One goldfish bowl nearby. Cut up the carrot and carve out
a small fish-shaped piece about an inch-and-a-half long.
Really. (Yeah, that's how it's done!) Place the carrot-fish in your coat
pocket and wait for an appropriate moment.
The Performance: It's all a gag, really. Just ham this up... When the right
"moment" presents itself, palm the carrot in your hand. Since no one has
a clue what you are preparing to do, don't try to make a "move" of this,
please.
Then, roll up the sleeve, plunge the hand into the gold fish bowl, pull out
the "fish" by the tail, hold it up and wiggle it, pop it into your mouth
and partake of the "meal". (Expect some very unusual reactions to this stunt.)
Then, just step over the bodies of those who've fainted as you dab the corners
of your mouth with a napkin!
Please note: If you plan to do this, please do it wisely. This is a very
powerful gag and may sicken some persons in the room. Also, be sure that
it's not a tank of piranha that have been fed some goldfish that are just
waiting to be eaten!
Carrot Magic for
School Children
Perform a little science magic with this simple experiment. You will need
a large bowl of water, a carrot and an apple. First, ask the children what
they think will happen when an apple or a carrot is put in the bowl. Place
the carrot in the bowl first; then remove it and place the apple in the bowl.
What happens? Why?
Explain to the children that foods like carrots and apples vary greatly in
the amount of air they contain. Carrot matter is packed very tightly and
is very heavy, making the carrot sink. The apple is not packed as tightly
and has many air spaces, which allow it to float.
Try slicing the apple and carrot for more observation.
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adishes,
beets, turnips and parsnips are also taproots. You might want to get some of
these and cut them to see how they are made. It also is interesting that we eat
many taproots!