Getting kindergarten students excited about science can be as simple as a colorful and engaging project. One of the best ways to introduce them to the wonders of science is through a hands-on activity: making colorful carnations! This project is not only visually appealing but also helps students understand plant biology and the process of capillary action. Let’s dive into the details of this fun science fair project that your students will love!
Every year our school has a science fair. The students work individually or in pairs to complete an experiment. We display them all in our cafeteria for classroom walk-thru’s, and parents viewing. Pre-K and Kinder do group projects because if we sent something home, it would just become a parent project (although I kind of feel like that’s what it becomes regardless of the grade anyway : )
Science Fair Supplies Needed
To embark on this colorful journey, you’ll need a few simple supplies:
- Carnations: These flowers are ideal because they readily absorb colored water.
- Vials: Small containers to hold the water and food coloring mixture. You can use small plastic cups or glass vials.
- Food Coloring: Various colors to create a vibrant display in the carnations.
These materials are easy to find and budget-friendly, making this project perfect for any classroom. I also like to read books about the inner workings of a plant:
Setting Up the Experiment
Setting up the colorful carnations experiment is a fun way to get your students involved. Begin by demonstrating how to prepare the colored water:
- Mixing Colors: Pour water into each vial and add several drops of food coloring to create different colors. Encourage students to explore mixing colors to see what new hues they can create! (We used about 10 drops per vial)
- Adding the Carnations: Once the colored water is ready, have students place their carnations into the vials. They will love watching the flowers drink up the colored water as they observe the changes over time.
As they engage in this process, encourage them to ask questions and make predictions about what will happen. This helps foster their curiosity and understanding of scientific processes.
Recording Observations
To enhance the learning experience, offer a free resource where students can record their observations. This printable worksheet allows them to document their initial thoughts about the carnations before adding them to the colored water. Later, they can update their predictions and observations as they notice changes in the flowers.
What to Include in the Observations:
- Initial Observations: Students can describe the color and condition of the carnations before the experiment.
- Predictions: Have them guess how the colors might change over time.
- Updated Observations: After 24 to 48 hours, students can note the colors they see in the petals and any other changes they observe.
We recorded our hypotheses’ which ranged from – the flowers changing colors, nothing will happen, and to the inevitable – the flowers will explode (why is this always a hypothesis when we do science experiments?!?!
This hands-on observation process promotes critical thinking and keeps students engaged throughout the experiment.
Science Fair Project Board
Once the experiment is complete, it’s time to showcase the students’ hard work on a science fair board! Using materials provided in the freebie, students can create a display that includes:
- Purpose: What they aimed to discover through the experiment.
- Materials: A list of the supplies used.
- Procedure: Step-by-step instructions on how they conducted the experiment.
- Hypothesis: Students can write down what they thought would happen before starting the experiment.
- Results: Document the final observations of the carnations and any conclusions drawn.
This board will perfectly represent their learning journey and is ideal for a school science fair. Whether your school is hosting a science fair or you just want to do a fun experiment during science time, this project will engage young learners and spark their interest in the world around them.
I believe I took this picture after 48 hours of the flowers soaking in the water. They started to change around 24 hours after we put them in the water, and the flowers actually lasted over a week! During our experiment, the yellow and orange changed color the most, and the purple absorbed the color the least. I would be curious to see if anyone else got different results.
Making colorful carnations is a delightful and educational project that encourages young scientists to explore the beauty of nature while developing important observation and recording skills. By participating in this experiment, kindergarten students will not only contribute to a science fair project but will also have a blast learning about plants and colors!
My kids loved this experiment, and they kept bringing their parents in to show them the flowers and talk about what was happening, so that made it even more worthwhile for me! I hope you enjoy doing this with your students, and let me know how it comes out! Check out more science resources on my website, and if you are interested in supplemental science resources for the entire year, check out my Kindergarten Science Interactive Notebook!
