My toddler has a huge fascination in collecting all sorts of treasures which usually fill his pockets are the back of his toy dump trucks and train carriages. This weeks he stuffed his bag full of pine cones which he found on the grounds of his school, and then brought them home to share his discoveries with us. While the messy pine needles and traces of sand that landed on the floor and where left behind as remnants in his school bag didn’t thrill me, I knew a learning opportunity had presented itself, and this did get me excited – I love doing learning activities with my kid!

This experiment is super easy to do, can be adapted to suit and challenge all ages and really helps kids to grasp concepts like absorption, expansion and contraction.

Image Source

WHY DO PINE COMES OPEN AND CLOSE?

To do this activity at home or with your students in class, you will need to start off by going for a walk through a forest of pine trees, where there are plenty of pine cones to find and collect. So, you get to start off with some fresh air and the release of some good energy, before you head off back indoors. 

You will also need the following materials on hand:

• A variety of opened and closed pine cones
• 2 large glass beakers or normal glass dishes
• Water
• Air Heater

Instructions:

1. Fill your glass beakers with water.
2. Place an already closed pine cone in one dish of water, and an opened one in the other.
3. Connect and switch on the air heater and place a closed pine cone as well as an opened one in front of it.

Observation:

The pine cones in the water – you will see that the closed pine cone remains closed, but the one that was opened will start to close its “leaves”.

The pine cones in front of the heater: The pine cone that is open will remain open, the closed pine cone will however start to open up.

Image Source

THE SCIENCE BIT

The Science Behind Opening and Closing Pine Cones. The scales of seed-bearing pine cones move in response to changes in humidity. When warm and dry the pine cone opens up to release the cone's seeds. When it is damp or cold, the scales close up. 

---

Source link: http://parentingchaos.com/why-do-pine-cones-open-and-close/

---

In essence, the pine cones contract when they are wet or cold, and then expand when they are hot or dry.

This nifty experiment can be adapted for any age group, with my toddler I kept it simple and used terms he would understand. With older kids you could ask them to write down their predictions of what they think will happen in each situation. You could also go more in depth of how expansion and contraction work. Whatever you do, make it fun! Kids learn best when they are enjoying themselves!

Much love - @sweetpea

(bringing you original content)