WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
Wide bowl or deep plate filled with water
Construction paper (standard paper will not work)
Scissors
Pencil
WHAT YOU DO:
Step 1: Cut a square piece of construction paper that fits inside the bowl. Fold it in half.
Step 2: Fold the paper in half again to make a square.
Step 3: Fold it in half again to make a triangle.
Step 4: One tip of the triangle has only folds, and no edges. This is the middle of your flower. Do not cut this tip! Start 1cm (3/8 in.) from this tip and cut a petal shape out of the rest of the triangle. Unfold the paper, and you will have made a flower!
Step 5: Use a pencil to roll up the petals of the flower so that it looks as if the flower is closed.
Step 6: Drop the flower into the water and watch the petals. What happens?
WHAT'S HAPPENING?
You used capillary action to make your flower bloom! Water has many important properties and functions. In plants, water acts like a skeleton, allowing the leaf to hold itself up. This pressure that keeps leaves up is called turgor pressure. When leaves on a plant wilt and become droopy it is because there is not enough water to maintain this pressure. The plant is not dead when this happens, but it is a sign that it is time to water your plants - and soon!
The stem of a plant is a transportation system filled with tiny tubes called capillaries. The attractive force between molecules of water and the sides of capillaries is strong enough to draw water up the plant, just as water was drawn up the paper to make your flower bloom! In the tallest of trees, capillary action can draw water up dozens of meters!
