Thursday, January 31, 2013

It's a science experiment!

The boy came up with a science experiment for school to test a theory about colored water hindering plant growth. As he is brilliant (well, I am his mother), he of course turned to me for advice. He needed 30 test subjects. At first I considered leaf lettuce, but that sounded difficult and unreliable. Then I hit on the perfect solution: paperwhites in water. Not only is it less messy than plants in potting soil, it also eliminates any variables, stripping the experiment down to its essence.
Being the helpful mom that I am, I duly ordered Narcissus 'Wintersun' from Brent & Becky's Bulbs. (There is no way I was going to tolerate in my house 30 stinky paperwhites such as 'Ziva'.) I also procured plastic cups and stones. On the left is the control group of plain water, while the test subjects are in yellow-colored water and blue. The bulbs got left in the box a bit too long, as they arrived before we went to Mexico over the holidays, and he didn't want to run the experiment while we were gone. They'll straighten out, and I'll get to enjoy lots of paperwhites. Don't you just love science? I'll report his conclusions at the end of the experiment.

12 comments:

Barbee' said...

And don't we just love the inquisitive minds of children! I remember putting Narcissus in the ink bottle when I was a child 70 years ago. We didn't have any other forms of coloring. It worked.

Gail said...

I think this is a win-win on so many levels for the entire family!

Layanee said...

That is a science project with benefits.

Kathy said...

This should be interesting. Do report back.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

I knew that Boy would come in handy for something. It will be fun to see what happens.

Helen said...

I'll take the boy and the windowsill. You can throw in some paper whites, too. 30 should do me.

Lucy Corrander at Loose and Leafy said...

I have to concentrate not to see them as a row of broody hens.

VP said...

Yay! Hooray for science :)

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Catharine Howard's Garden Blog said...

Zoot. Totipotency?

RobinL said...

I can only assume you ordered a less "fragrant" paperwhite, because I was already cringing at the thought of 30 stinky paperwhites in one house. Whew!

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