The "WOW" Factor of Nature!

How can you NOT love this?

This past week in my biology class was spent on a unit on classification and taxonomy.  This is one of my favorite topics to teach because the diversity of life on Earth is so incredible and amazing.  Just now, I am sitting at my kitchen table looking out over our large back yard.  The evidence of adaptation to our current environment astounds me.  I am making a list to share with my students on Monday:
1.   A hummingbird is at my feeder.  (Yes, in the deep south, we already have hummingbirds back from the winter.)  Its beak is perfectly adapted to extract the nectar from any flower.
2.   The bees are very active this morning, buzzing in and out of every flower in sight.  Flowering plants take advantage of the bee, and cover its body with pollen every time it lands on a flower.  What a perfect way to deliver a sperm cell to an egg cell of a flower a block away.
3.   The birds are singing like crazy this morning!  What a perfect way to find a mate and establish behavioral barriers between the species.

4.   I can see beetles who are perfectly camouflaged to blend in with their surroundings.
5.  The fruiting bodies of mushrooms are poking up from the ground to take advantage of the deluge of rain we have had this week.  Water will spread their spores to great distances.




6.  A great blue heron is wading at the edge of our shallow pond.  Its body is perfectly adapted for wading and grabbing up the small fishes it sees.

It is an amazing time of the year to be a science teacher.  Nature is packed full of examples that we can share with our students.  I certainly hope that my students come away from this unit with the same "awe" as I have when considering how natural selection has brought us to this point in Earth's history.  Every organism in our sight is adapted to this particular environment.  All we have to do is to look carefully at our surroundings and we will see a multitude of examples of adaptation.

My challenge to you is this:  When Spring hits your particular area of this beautiful earth, take a class period and go outside with your students.  Give them a magnifying glass.  Have them make a list of the living organisms they see, and have them describe how they are adapted to the environment.  Yes, some of them will be "off task" and some of them will misbehave, but some of them will get hooked on nature for life!   I teach high school students, and I am stunned each year at how few of them have ever planted a seed, taken a walk through the woods, hung a bird feeder at their home, thrown "helicopter" seeds into the air and watched them spin, watched a spider spin a web, the list could go on and on!

These children will be responsible for making decisions about our planet in just a short number of years. We better get them excited about nature.  We better make sure they understand how their actions impact our planet.  Our students are the future caretakers of this beautiful planet and there is not an "app" for that.  I hope that when they are adults we have taught them enough about science and nature that they can make informed decisions about how to take care of it.

Plant Transpiration Experiment for Biology Students (Easy Lab Activity)

This plant transpiration experiment allows students to measure water loss from leaves while testing environmental variables such as light, air movement, and humidity. This hands-on biology lab helps students understand how transpiration works and how external conditions affect the rate of water loss in plants. Because the setup is simple and reliable, this transpiration experiment works well for middle school and high school biology students.

Plant Transpiration Activity for Biology Students

I really enjoy teaching plant biology, and plant transpiration is one of those topics that becomes much more meaningful when students can actually see it happening. I recently used this simple plant transpiration activity with my biology students, and it was easy to set up, required no fancy lab equipment, and worked beautifully across multiple grade levels. This transpiration activity can be adapted for elementary, middle school, or high school biology classrooms, making it a flexible option for teaching plant water movement.

Looking for a fully developed, classroom-ready transpiration lab for high school biology? You can find my updated transpiration lab activity blog post here.

What Is Plant Transpiration?

Plant transpiration is the loss of water vapor from a plant’s leaves. Leaves contain small pores called stomata that open to allow carbon dioxide to enter for photosynthesis. While the stomata are open, water vapor also escapes from the leaf and enters the atmosphere. If a plant loses too much water through transpiration, it will lose turgor pressure, causing the plant to wilt.

Because transpiration is closely tied to photosynthesis, environmental conditions such as light, air movement, and humidity all affect the rate at which water is lost from the leaves.

Simple Plant Transpiration Activity Setup

Measuring transpiration from plant leaves can be surprisingly simple. For this activity, I purchased a tray of vinca plants (also called periwinkles) from a local garden center. One tray typically contains six small plants, which works well for testing multiple conditions.

Each plant was placed into a small 100 mL beaker and watered thoroughly. Since the goal is to measure water lost through the leaves, it is important to prevent evaporation from the soil. To do this, a plastic sandwich bag is wrapped tightly around the beaker and sealed snugly around the stem of the plant. Only the leaves should remain outside the bag.

At this point, the only way water can leave the system is through the leaves of the plant.

Measuring Transpiration by Mass

Once the setup is complete:

1. Place the plant into the beaker and water it thoroughly.

2. Wrap the plastic bag tightly around the beaker and stem so no soil is exposed.

3. Measure the initial mass of the entire setup and record it on masking tape attached to the beaker.

This initial mass serves as the baseline for measuring water loss during transpiration.

Testing Variables That Affect Transpiration

Next, students investigate which environmental factors increase or decrease the rate of transpiration. In this activity, four plants are used:

• One plant is placed under continuous light.

• One plant is placed in front of a blowing fan.

• One plant is sealed inside a plastic bag that has been lightly misted with water to create a high-humidity environment.

• One plant serves as the control and remains under normal classroom conditions.

Each plant is left in its assigned condition for approximately 24 hours.

Observing and Analyzing Results

After 24 hours, each plant is massed again. Students are often amazed by how much water has been lost through the leaves during this time.

Typical results include:

• Plant in continuous light: Increased transpiration due to sustained photosynthesis. Stomata remain open longer to allow carbon dioxide to enter, resulting in greater water loss.

• Plant in front of a fan: Increased air movement removes water vapor from the leaf surface, increasing evaporation and transpiration.

• High-humidity plant: Reduced transpiration because the surrounding air already contains a high concentration of water vapor.

• Control plant: Normal transpiration under standard room conditions.

  

All final masses should be compared to the control plant to determine whether the tested factor increased or decreased the rate of transpiration.

Adapting This Transpiration Activity for Different Grade Levels

One of the strengths of this activity is its flexibility.

Elementary Grades:
At the elementary level, this activity can be used to demonstrate that water is absorbed by roots and released through leaves. Students can make predictions, form simple hypotheses, and practice basic steps of the scientific method.

Middle Grades:
Middle school students can calculate the rate of water loss per minute, test additional variables such as darkness or temperature, or compare transpiration rates between different plant species.

High School Biology:
High school students can remove leaves and calculate total leaf surface area to determine water loss per unit area. Students may also research and connect results to mechanisms of transpiration, including cohesion, adhesion, capillary action, and transpiration pull.

Final Thoughts

This simple plant transpiration activity allows the same core concept to be explored at multiple levels of complexity. Many students have limited experience working with live plants, and labs like this one consistently spark curiosity and engagement. My students are always intrigued by how much water plants actually lose through their leaves.

If you try this activity in your classroom or have additional ideas for extensions, I would love to hear about it. Good luck — and as always, make science fun.

Protein Synthesis Made Fun!

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Sometimes when I teach  DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis, I feel like the only person in the room that "get's it" is me!    Many of my standard Biology I kids struggle with these concepts.  The whole idea of transcription and translation just leaves them looking like a deer in the headlights!

I developed this activity to help get the point across:

Determining the Traits of a Mystery Organism Through Protein Synthesis

After teaching the basics of protein synthesis, use this activity to ensure that your students understand the concepts involved in transcription and translation.  I have found that my students understand the concept of protein synthesis much better after doing this activity.  And best of all, they get to color their mystery organism at the end.  It never ceases to amaze me how much high school students still love to color!  This activity is appropriate for grades 7 through 10.

The printable lesson is perfect for traditional classroom settings, and the paperless, digital Google Apps version is perfect for distance learning and 1:1 classrooms. 

Make Science Fun Again!

It is the time of year where teachers across the country have only one thing on their minds:    End of course standardized tests!!!  It doesn't matter what state you live in, or by what name they are called, they are the same.  They are standardized tests.  Every teacher feels the pressure.  It seems that nobody cares if you make your class fun and exciting....JUST GET GOOD TEST SCORES!!!
Please teachers, don't fall into the testing trap!  Keep your class fun, engaging, and exciting and the test scores will probably be better than ever!

This week I had my biology students do a DNA extraction.  It is such a simple little activity and I worried that my students might find it boring.  Boy, was I wrong!  They thought it was the neatest thing ever.  At the end, they all asked for a plastic bag so that they could take their DNA home with them.

You can click here to download my DNA Extraction Lab for free.  I hope that you will check it out.  It is simple, easy to set up and easy to clean up.  And best of all:  It does not require any fancy lab equipment.  Anyone can do it!  It is appropriate for middle and high school students, but I believe that even a 4th or 5th grader could do it.  (You just might not want to use my follow up questions for elementary, though.  But the lab procedure is simple!)

We extracted the DNA from wheat germ, which can be purchased at any grocery store in the health food section.  Here is a photo:

The "blob" being held up from the beaker is a huge amount of DNA!
I really hope that you will download this lab.  It is free!

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