May

Do Plants Drink Cola or Water?

This investigation is designed to determine if plants prefer cola or water to grow.

Materials

Procedures

Place each plant in a small plant pot
Label one pot - water
label the other pot - cola
Add water to the pot labeled water until the soil is moist
Add cola to the pot labeled cola until the soil is most
Take pictures of both pots
Measure and record the height of the both plants, along with any other observations made of the two plants
Make daily observations of the plants for 5 days, record observations and take pictures
Ensure the soil in both plants remains slight moist throughout the investigation

Findings

Answer the following questions:

Write a short story describing all observations and what happened to both plants.
Which plant was surviving after 5 days?
Why was the plant that was not surviving, dying?
What would happen if diet cola was used instead of cola?
What would happen if another type of carbonated drink were used instead of cola?
How could the investigation be redesigned to test if plants like cola or water? (hydroponics is one alternative)

Results

Students will find that acidic level of cola, along with the other ingredients in cola will kill the plant that is only given cola to drink.

Resources

Writing in Science