J5 and `The Great Celery Experiment`

P5 and ‘The Great Celery
Experiment’
On Thursday 22 January 2009, the
Biology Department welcomed
pupils and staff of P5 and explored
the mysteries of ‘The Great Celery
Experiment’.
Plants really are amazing
organisms.....P5 pupils have been
learning about stems and the
transport of water upwards from
the roots. The first demonstration
was to show that water (even when
coloured with dye) WILL travel
upwards, through the stem to
reach the leaves and petals.
How does water travel through the
stem?
The answer is special ‘straws’ take
water upwards – these structures
are called XYLEM:
It was also possible to extract
XYLEM vessels from the stems of
celery and view them under the
microscope:
Looking for Xylem vessels........
Xylem vessels transport water and
nutrients from the soil to the rest of
the plant. They also help to keep
the plant stem rigid and strong.
Xylem vessels can be seen under
the light microscope:
The transport of water through a
plant is an essential life-giving
process that affects ALL organisms
on Planet Earth.
Investigating water transport in
xylem......
Thank you to the teachers and
pupils of GHS P5 – we enjoyed your
visit.