What use is there in knowing about transpiration in plants?
Well... imagine yourself being stranded in a strange land. It is hot and
you are thirsty. There is abundant plant life but you cannot find fresh
water anywhere. Looking around at what you have you come up with a
plan. And it is a good thing you listened in biology class when your
teacher was talking about transpiration because what you learned there
is about to save your life...
On a cold day, when you breathe out, you often see "steam" coming out of your mouth. Just like you, when plants "breathe" they give off products - one of which is good old dihydrogen oxide - water. Transpiration is part of this process. In this experiment, we are going to be trap the water that comes out of the plant during transpiration!
The aim
Water droplets appear on the inside of the plastic sheet and when there are enough, start to drop into the bowl.
Conclusion
As the sun heats the leaves in the box, they give off water through the process of transpiration. This water condenses on the underside of the plastic sheet. The stone that you placed on the plastic will result in the plastic sheet sloping in towards just above the bowl. The water droplets will gather at this point and drop into the bowl. What you have essentially done is to capture the water that is given off by the leaves during the process of transpiration.
You now have fresh water in your bowl that you can drink to quench your thirst...
On a cold day, when you breathe out, you often see "steam" coming out of your mouth. Just like you, when plants "breathe" they give off products - one of which is good old dihydrogen oxide - water. Transpiration is part of this process. In this experiment, we are going to be trap the water that comes out of the plant during transpiration!
The aim
- To show that water is given off by plants in the process of transpiration.
- To trap some of this water so that we can drink it.
- Fresh plant leaves (you need to ensure that the plant is not poisonous - check with and adult that knows. If you are not sure, rather choose another plant that you know is not poisonous!)
- A cardboard box.
- A large sheet of transparent (see through) plastic.
- Some masking tape.
- A small stone.
- A bowl or cup.
- A sunny day.
- Place the cup or bowl inside the box - near the centre of the box.
- Put as many leaves as can fit in the box around the bowl, but they must not cover the bowl.
- Cover the top of the open box with the transparent plastic sheet and tape it onto the box around the edges. You need to tape it all around the edges of the plastic so that there are no gaps between the box and the plastic.
- Place the small stone in the middle of the plastic sheet over the bowl.
- Place the box in a sunny spot and wait to see what happens...
Water droplets appear on the inside of the plastic sheet and when there are enough, start to drop into the bowl.
Conclusion
As the sun heats the leaves in the box, they give off water through the process of transpiration. This water condenses on the underside of the plastic sheet. The stone that you placed on the plastic will result in the plastic sheet sloping in towards just above the bowl. The water droplets will gather at this point and drop into the bowl. What you have essentially done is to capture the water that is given off by the leaves during the process of transpiration.
You now have fresh water in your bowl that you can drink to quench your thirst...
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