Valentines Science Lab: Changing the Color of Flowers

I thought this could be a fun science lab for my students, and with Valentine's Day right around the corner I thought it would be a perfect time to give it a try.

In this lab students will be changing the color of white flowers, by giving them colored water. All you will need is
- White carnations
- Food coloring
- Water
- Vases (water bottles/cups work great)

For this lab I would have my class split into 4 groups. Two groups would get blue food coloring, and two groups would get red food coloring. One of the blue group would use warm water and one group would use cold water. And the same thing with the red group.

Each group would add 20 drops of food coloring into a 1/2 cup of water.

They would then place the stem of their flower into the water.

I would then have the students predict what will happen to the flowers. Which ones will turn more quickly? Which ones will have a brighter color?

Each hour we would check on the flowers. We would observe what is happening and put the notes into our science journals.

The flowers should change color within a few hours. The flowers in warm water should turn more quickly.  Sometimes it does take over night.

Let me know how this worked in your class!