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August 9, 2013

Science for Kids: Flower Pigment Experiment

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Do different color flowers have the same pigments?  Not always.  We have 3 types of dark pink flowers at our house so we decided to experiment to see if all of them were made of the same pigments.

Science for Kids--Flower Pigment Experiment!

The kids chose petals from the three different types of flowers to test–roses, gerber daisies, and pink flowers from our front shrubs.  While they were doing that I set up the rest of the experiment that I found on Scientific American.  This science experiment is more involved than the ones we usually do and definitely requires adult participation.

Flower Pigment Chromotography Experiment

 Materials:

petals from different flowers

tall glass jar

1 inch strips of paper towels the same height as the jar

pencil

tape

1/4 cup of water and 1/4 cup of rubbing alcohol in a cup (or mug)

toy car

Flower Pigment Chromotography Science Experiment

Procedure:

1.  Draw a line across the paper towel strip 1 inch up from the bottom.

2.  Pour some of the rubbing alcohol/water mixture into the jar–until it’s about 1 inch high.

3.  Place a petal on the pencil line on the paper towel.

4.  Have your child drive the car over the petal to transfer the pigment onto the paper towel.

5.  Tape the paper towel to the pencil and set it into the jar so that the bottom of the paper towel is touching the liquid. (see photo)

6.  Leave it in there for 20 minutes and let the towel absorb some of the liquid.

7.  Tape to the side of a counter to let dry and repeat the process with the other flower petals.

Paper Towel Flower Chromotography Experiment

When the paper towels dry you can compare the color pattern to see if the flowers you tested are the same pigment.  We tested three flowers and found that two of them were very similar and the third was definitely not.

Flower Pigment Paper Chromotology Experiment

  The results weren’t as vibrant as we had imagined they would be (and even harder to see in the photo!) and we discovered that pink isn’t the recommended color to test.  If you are going to do this you may want to try red or purple or orange.

The kids enjoyed the flower pigment experiment–even if my 3 year old didn’t quite understand the results!  My 5 and 7 year olds want to try it again with red flowers and chromatography paper.  It will be interesting to see how the results differ.

More Flower Science Activities:

Transpiration and Colored Flowers from Inspiration Laboratories

10 Flower Experiments and Explorations from Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas

Homemade Natural Watercolors from Learn Play Imagine

We loved participating in science week!  Make sure to check out our Cloud in a Bottle activity from Monday and out Does It Dissolve? experiment from Wednesday to catch up on all of the fun!

About Megan Sheakoski

Megan is the creator of Coffee Cups and Crayons, a blog full of simple fun and learning. She believes that kids’ activities don’t have to be complicated to be fun and that learning is better with play.

Does it Dissolve? Kids Science Experiment
First Day of School Books

Comments

  1. Rachelle says

    August 9, 2013 at 9:16 am

    Rolling over the pigment with a little vehicle is a great idea.its interesting to see how very different the root colors are.

    Reply
    • Megan Sheakoski says

      August 10, 2013 at 2:25 pm

      It worked perfectly and was much more fun than a coin! This is definitely one to do again–it’s so interesting to explore the pigments. I saw online that cornflowers don’t actually have blue pigments so the would be especially interesting.

      Reply
  2. Allison says

    August 9, 2013 at 12:05 pm

    I LOVE this! What an awesome experiment.

    Reply
    • Megan Sheakoski says

      August 10, 2013 at 2:26 pm

      You should definitely try it Allison! Your kids would love it!

      Reply
  3. Trisha @ Inspiration Laboratories says

    August 9, 2013 at 10:25 pm

    Awesome! I love that you used a truck to transfer the pigment.

    Reply
    • Megan Sheakoski says

      August 10, 2013 at 2:27 pm

      My big kids thought observing was cool enough, but my 3 year old likes things a little more hands on!

      Reply

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