Do
you
know
the
difference
between
xylem
and
phloem?
Meghann
Ruleman's
fifth-graders
at
Swans
Creek
Elementary
School
do!
Her
students
got
excited
about
science
and
learned
about
plant
life
by
playing
games
and
doing
experiments
that
helped
them
understand
the
biology
behind
roots,
stems,
leaves,
and
flowers.The students played a form of the game Simon Says in class to review the parts of a plant, to learn about the difference between vascular and nonvascular plants, and to demonstrate how xylem, a type of vascular tissue in plants, works. By reaching down to their feet and then standing up to make an X with their bodies, they depicted xylem travelling from a plant's roots to its leaves bringing water. For phloem, the other vascular transport system, the students demonstrated how food flows down from a plant's leaves above to the rest of the plant by bringing their hands above their heads and dropping them down to their feet.
Building off these activities, the class conducted an experiment to find out which color food dye absorbed best through the xylem in the celery, making observations over several days.
"On the last day, we pulled apart the celery and you could see the xylem tubes were completely the color of the food dye. The students really got that the xylem is a tube by seeing how it pulled the water up and being able to see the tube filled with colored food dye," said Ruleman. "Then, we finished by eating some fresh celery so they could again see the xylem tubes as they were eating it."