MY FLOWER EXPERIMENT

Does freezing a flower in a block of ice preserve it better than leaving it in a vase of water?

Hypothesis
If the flower is frozen in a block of ice then the flower will be preserved because the flower is protected.

MATERIALS

• Empty Milk Carton
• Water
• A Vase
• Scissors
• Freezer
• Ruler
• Scale
• iPad
• 6 Tulips
• Sunlight

Variables and controls

• Controlled Group - The Three Flowers in Water
• Experimental Group - The Flowers in the Block of Ice
• Independent Variable - The Block of Ice
• Dependent Variable - Freshness of the Flowers

CONTROLLED VARIABLES

• The water
• The time each was examined (5:00 pm)
• Size of each flower

PROCEDURE

• Go to the store and buy 6 identical tulips
• Trim flower stems to 15 cm
• Place 3 tulips in a vase with 500 ml of water
• Place other 3 tulips in cleaned out milk carton filled with water
• Place the milk carton in the freezer

DATA COLLECTING

• Measure the height of the flowers in both groups in cm
• Measure the weight of the flowers and block of ice with the flowers inside
• Examine the flowers looking for discoloration and wilting

DATA

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Analysis
I was really surprised by the end result of this experiment being that that the flowers in the block of ice dying so quickly. The control Group lasted for a whole 5 days until it started showing major signs of discoloration and wilting. What really surprised me though was that my block of ice cracked. I think that was because on the first night during inspection, it was only partially solid. The inside of the block of ice was still liquid. When that water expanded due to being frozen it cracked the ice and exposed the flowers to the air, discoloring it, but the flowers didn’t wilt while frozen inside the block of ice. They kept their shape.

Conclusion
My hypothesis was if flowers were frozen in a block of ice then they would stay fresh because they would be protected from the air. The results to this experiment support the idea that freezing the flowers in a block of ice does not preserve the flowers. The flowers in the block of ice were turning black and purple on the 2nd and 3rd day but didn’t wilt at all while the control Group didn’t start wilting or discoloring until the second to last day. I would have treated the flowers getting frozen in a block of ice with some flower food so they might be able to live a bit longer.