Montessori Activity: How Plants Drink Water

Age: From 3 years old

Objective(s): To give your preschooler a taste of Science

Materials:
1. 4 stalks of Anemone or other white flowers
2. 4 food colouring
3. 4 transparent glasses or vases half-filled with water

Directions:
1. Ask your child to add a few drops of food colouring to the water in the glass and stir it with a chopstick or teaspoon.

2. Ask your child to put in a stalk of flower.

3. Leave the flowers for a few hours or overnight.

4. Ask your child what he thinks may have happened during the night. To help him understand the concept, you can compare it to him drinking from a straw. Tell your child that the stem of the flower is like the straw.

Additional Information:
It is spring time in Denmark. The forests are carpeted with small white flowers all over. It is really an amazing sight... the beauty, peacefulness and simple joy that they bring when you stand in awe of their presence is a very special feeling. For a moment, it makes you forget all the problems, and simply imbibing in the sight, admiring the beauty of God's creation. What a gift it is to be able to experience this in person. It makes me count my blessings.

These small white flowers are called Anemone. They only come out at the very first sign of spring, before the trees sprout their leaves. And they last for about 2 weeks, usually between mid to end April. So we have to hurry in order to catch them in their bloom. When the tree leaves come out, they will crowd out and block the sunlight from reaching the Anemone, and these small white flowers will wither away as quickly as they came.

We have been wanting to go and see the Anemone in bloom, but we have been very busy with other activities. There is only last bit left, but finally we went to Geels Skov, a very enchanting forest near Holte this evening with Joshua. We could afford to let Joshua go to bed a little later, because tomorrow is a Danish holiday - Big Prayer Day -  and the kindergartens are closed. I have thus taken the day off from work.

We plucked some of the Anemone, before they wither away and brought it home for a little Montessori activity for Joshua. It was actually Florian's idea. Then I went to my Montessori book for inspiration on lesson plan. We put each of these small white flowers into four different colour water. Show it to Joshua and asked him to guess what would happen to the flowers, when he wakes up in the morning? He could not guess it. We told him that the petals will change colour. Joshua was very excited and requested to put these flowers near him, so that he could see them, when he wakes up tomorrow morning.

As with all experiments, you sometimes succeed and you sometimes don't. Fortunately we did this with a few flowers, and only the blue one succeeded. The other flowers were too tired to drink in the water. But at least we have one successful experiment. Next time, we have to go earlier in the season.

References:
- Teach Me to Do It Myself by Maja Pitamic

Geels Skov

Geels Forest is rich in oltidsagre, and a few places you can with the naked eye glimpse of the old high-backed fields. The woods consist of approx. 2/3 deciduous and 1/3 pine forest, operated with timber production and recreation in mind. Deciduous forest rejuvenated, except oak, solely by natural regeneration while coniferous forests rejuvenated by planting, usually after the harvest of old pine forest. The pine trees that are planted today are predominantly Douglas and larch.What can you see? The forest is pretty hilly. The soil consists of sand and clay that quickly alternates between the sites. The squirrels and the birds mostly live in trees, are commonly found.

The middle of Geels Forest Holtekollen stands out very clearly with its height and it was there we saw the anemone.

How to get there?

From Holte train station, you can get directly into Geels Forest, and from there take a pleasant stroll through the woods and finish at Virum train station.

Parking:

Cars can be parked in parking spaces at Vangebovej at Kings Road at the top of the Geels Tray or by Holte Station Avenue.

Mountain Bike Trail:

A new mountain bike trail in Geel Forest was opened in 2009 by the Danish Forest and Nature Agency. Here you can find the track:

http://www.singletrack.dk/component/content/article/68-sjaelland/261-mtb-geel-skov-lyngby

Public bonfires:

Fireplaces may be used freely. Bring your own charcoal or sank burn the forest floor. Turn off the fire when you leave the fire.

References:
http://www.naturstyrelsen.dk/Naturoplevelser/Beskrivelser/Hovedstaden/Geels_skov/