| Explore | I have learned that celery that is in salt water becomes bendy due to osmosis. |
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| Research Question | How can you make the curliest celery? To come up with this question we used the prompt we were given and turned it into a question. |
| Predictions | If a 4.5-inch center of a celery stalk is submerged in 2 cups of water with 4 tablespoons of salt for 24 hours, then it will become curlier than it was before submerging it. Two possible outcomes are the celery will become less curly, and the celery will become curlier. |
| Experimental Design | Materials: Water – 4 cups Salt- 4 Tablespoons 4.5-inch celery stalks- 2 stalks Two medium sized Tupperware containers Control variables: Size of celery, way that celery is cut, size of container, amount of water, type of water, time inside of fridge Independent variable: amount of salt used in each container Dependent Variable: The curliness of each celery stalk Procedure- One trial will be ran Cut the sides, top and bottom of a 2 celery stalks so that it’s 4.5 inches in height Take a picture of each stalk Gather two containers and fill them with 2 cups of water Add 4 tablespoons of salt to one of the containers Put one stalk in each container, and move the containers to the fridge After 24 hours, take the stalks out of the fridge and take a picture of each stalk Analyze the before and after pictures and observe the change in curliness. |
| Conclusion | To make the curliest celery, cut the sides and the top. Then submerge it in 2 cups of tap water in the fridge for 24 hours. After performing the experiment the stalk that was in tap water became curlier than the stalk that was in salt water. Due to osmosis the celery absorbed water into its cells, making them hypotonic. It absorbed more water into the cells of the center of the celery, causing the curve in the celery. |
| Investigation Theme | CEL |
| Grade Level | High School Students (Grades 9,10,11,12) |
| School Name | Ottawa Township High School |
| Session | Fall 2020 |