Sometimes people find it difficult to get themselves enthused about plants, let alone their students. To tie in with Fascination of Plants Day and Outdoor Classroom Day on 18 May 2017, I decided to see if I could think of anything fascinating about a notoriously dull plant, celery.
Apart from wondering if eating celery makes you use up more calories than you gain – apparently a celery myth, what else is there?
To start with, make celery rock and multi-coloured celery and flowers. This is a tried and trusted experiment that works a treat - just make sure you use a water soluble food colouring or dye, because some modern food colourings don’t dissolve well in water. Science on the shelves has a useful explanation about the science behind the experiment.
If that’s got you thinking about water moving against gravity, see if you can compete with celery; using just human power and drinking straws. Competing with celery may be easy peasy, but as this Science and Plants for School (SAPS) activity shows, beating the giant redwood is an entirely different story.
Dropping a slice of celery into hydrogen peroxide makes loads of oxygen bubbles. Risk assess, try the experiment and then test for the oxygen produced. By setting the experiment up in a container with a narrow neck (a small conical flask works well) and holding a glowing splint at the mouth of the flask, you can amaze your students with the magical powers of celery. Alternatively, try adding a dash of washing up liquid to the hydrogen peroxide and celery mixture and relighting a glowing splint in the bubbles.
Colourful and intriguing and perhaps my personal favourite, celery special, is the A level dissecting plant transport systems practical from SAPS.
Of course if I do get fed up with celery, Kew Gardens’ report says there are at least 390 000 other plant species to explore. I might get outdoors, taking advantage of Outdoor Classroom Day, and the Woodland Trust’s The Big Bluebell Watch.
With a reported international shortage of plant scientists, and a particular shortage of crop science, classification and fieldwork specialists, Thursday 18 May 2017 might be the day to get someone hooked. You could inspire the next generation to consider the wonder of plants and some plant science careers that could help to feed a food, fuel and resource hungry world.