Daily STREAM Activity: Grow a Potato

Watch how roots grow from plants!

Activity best for children age 3 and up

Planting indoors is a lot of fun! Using clear jars and water gives you the opportunity to see how roots form from the bottom. When placed in sunlight, you’ll see how the plant also sprouts leaves from the top. Sweet potatoes are a root vegetable and are related to the Morning Glory plant with its beautiful purple flowers. They come in a variety of different shapes and colors like white, orange, and even purple. 

Materials you’ll need:

1 sweet potato 

Toothpicks

Clear container

Water

Knife

Questions to answer while experimenting:

What other plants can you grow in a container of water? Avocados pits? Celery sticks? Carrot tops?

What do you think will grow first, the roots, or the stems?

Can you keep growing your plant in water or do you need to move it to the soil?

Directions

STEP 1
Cut the sweet potato in half. Ask a grown-up to help you. Sweet potatoes can be hard to cut.

Image 7 30 20 At 2.10 PM

STEP 2
Put 3 toothpicks midway into the halved potato and rest it in a clear container of water.

Image 7 30 20 At 2.10 PM (1)

STEP 3
With the cut part of the potato submerged in water and the top half of it exposed to the air, and placed in a sunny area, roots should begin to grow from the bottom and stems from the top.

Image 7 30 20 At 2.10 PM (2)

Reading extension:

Tops & Bottoms
by Janet Stevens
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