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Thames & Kosmos BOTANY Experimental Greenhouse Science Kit Experiment Manual
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Thames & Kosmos BOTANY Experimental Greenhouse Science Kit Experiment Manual

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E X PE R I M E NT M A N UA L
Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG, Pfizerstr. 5-7, 70184 Stuttgart, Germany | +49 (0) 711 2191-0 | www.kosmos.de
Thames & Kosmos, 301 Friendship St., Providence, RI, 02903, USA | 1-800-587-2872 | www.thamesandkosmos.com
Thames & Kosmos UK Ltd, Goudhurst, Kent, TN17 2QZ , United Kingdom | 01580 212000 | www.thamesandkosmos.co.uk

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  • Page 1 E X PE R I M E NT M A N UA L Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. KG, Pfizerstr. 5-7, 70184 Stuttgart, Germany | +49 (0) 711 2191-0 | www.kosmos.de Thames & Kosmos, 301 Friendship St., Providence, RI, 02903, USA | 1-800-587-2872 | www.thamesandkosmos.com Thames &...
  • Page 2 › › › IMPORTANT INFORMATION WARNING: WARNING. Not suitable for children under 3 years. Choking hazard — small parts may be swallowed or CHOKING HAZARD inhaled. Strangulation hazard — long cords may — Small become wrapped around the neck. parts. Not for children under 3 yrs. This kit contains functional sharp points, corners, or edges.
  • Page 3 Botany: Experimental Greenhouse Dear Parents! This greenhouse science kit offers five- And just as with real experimental year-olds a playful way to help them research or gardening, it is always a good grow their first plants and learn about idea to wear old clothes that you don’t botany! They can start their experiments mind getting a little dirty.
  • Page 4 › › › KIT CONTENTS Checklist: Find – Inspect – Check off Description Quantity Item No. Greenhouse base 708733 Greenhouse domes 708734 Plant pot 705804 Measuring cup (100 ml) 708166 Measuring cup (30 ml) 065100 Soil pellet 773001 Cress seed packet 705133 Zinnia seed packet 711561...

  • Page 5: Table Of Contents

    Botany: Experimental Greenhouse › › › TABLE OF CONTENTS Dear Kids! Getting Started ....4 Growing Your Allow us to introduce ourselves: We First Plants ......6 are Peter Pepper, Edgar Eggplant, and Cress, zinnia, and more! Carrie Carrot. The three of us will be guiding you through this manual.

  • Page 6: Getting Started

    GETTING STARTED Assembly Remove the dome from the plastic sheet. Smooth the edges with a little sandpaper. Have a grown-up help you. Ideally, place your greenhouse on a window ledge, where it will be warm and bright. Thermometer Dome Measuring cup Ventilation The domes of your greenhouse have ventilation slots that can be opened and...
  • Page 7 Botany: Experimental Greenhouse Watering When you water, you have to be very Important! Make sure that your careful not to wash away the seeds or young plants always have moist disturb the seedlings. It’s easiest if you soil! That is very important. To use a pipette.

  • Page 8: Growing Your First Plants

    Growing Your First Plants...
  • Page 9 Growing Your First Plants EXPERIMENT 1 WHAT’S HAPPENING Soil absorbs water Your soil pellets are made of ground and compressed coco YOU WILL NEED fibers. These fibers are extracted from the shells of coconuts. Most potting soils are made of peat, which comes from raised bogs.
  • Page 10 EXPERIMENT 2 Growing cress YOU WILL NEED Paper towels Water Pour some of the cress seeds into your hand. It’s easy to observe germination Don’t plant the seeds too and growth with cress plants close together, or they will because they sprout quickly. Seeds crowd each other and not contain all of the food, or nutrients, grow well.
  • Page 11 Growing Your First Plants Plant Profiles In these profiles, you will find things you should know about the seeds from this kit, as well as a lot of other common plants. This is what the Cress profile symbols mean: Sprinkle onto moist soil and Plant in the press down lightly.
  • Page 12 EXPERIMENT 3 Growing zinnias YOU WILL NEED Start by planting three pots Water Tape with zinnia seeds! Cut out a name tag from the cut-out paper sheet and label it. Tape it to a toothpick. Now you can stick it into the pot with your plant so it is clear what is growing in the pot.
  • Page 13 Growing Your First Plants Dwarf zinnia Plant about half a centimeter deep, not too close together, and cover with soil. From the end of April It’s easy to observe germination and growth with a cress plant, since they need a lot less time to 8–14 Days grow than peas.
  • Page 14 EXPERIMENT 4 Thirsty peas YOU WILL NEED Colored pencils Water You can see that the peas have grown quite a bit bigger. They have absorbed water and swollen up. When that happens, their tissue and cell parts expand. The peas become soft, and they are ready to sprout.
  • Page 15 Growing Your First Plants Peas Let the pea seeds swell up with water. Then plant them individually in the soil about 4–5 cm apart. Cover loosely with soil. Mid-March to mid-April 5 Days at 20 °C (68 °F) Germination temperature 15–20 °C (59–68 °F) Water regularly, but do not keep it too moist, as the peas...
  • Page 16 EXPERIMENT 5 Root growth YOU WILL NEED Paper towels Water Tape Keep the paper towels moist! Paper towels, wadded up After a few days, you will clearly see the roots growing downward. Now, turn the dome upside down so the roots point up.

  • Page 17: What Your Plants Need To Grow

    What Your Plants Need to Grow...
  • Page 18 EXPERIMENT 6 Note! After you pick the dandelion, a whitish Plants need water sap will drip out of the stalk. Be careful not to YOU WILL NEED get any on your clothes — the stains are hard to wash out. Dandelion stem Water Make a lengthwise cut...
  • Page 19 What Your Plants Need to Grow EXPERIMENT 7 How plants drink water YOU WILL NEED Scissors Tape Drinking glass Drinking water You will quickly notice that it gets harder and harder to suck the water upward as the straw gets longer.
  • Page 20 EXPERIMENT 8 *You can use liquid Coloring flowers food coloring, egg dye tablets, or ink. YOU WILL NEED Water Food coloring* White flower, such as a carnation The flower should be freshly cut. If you divide the stalk in two and put each half in a cup with a different color, you will get a two-colored flower.
  • Page 21 What Your Plants Need to Grow EXPERIMENT 9 You can use the Automatic zinnia seedlings from Experiment 3. watering system YOU WILL NEED Scissors Water The yarn consists of many individual fibers with small spaces between them that allow it soak up water like a sponge. In time, the volume of water becomes too much for the yarn the hold and the water drips from the lower end into the soil in the flowerpot.
  • Page 22 Use the sprouted peas from Experiment 5! EXPERIMENT 10 Plants need nutrients YOU WILL NEED Paper towels Water Tape WHAT’S HAPPENING Most plants are green! And there is a very important reason for that. The leaves use this green coloring to capture sunlight and produce sugar and oxygen from water and air (more precisely, the gas carbon dioxide in the air).
  • Page 23 What Your Plants Need to Grow EXPERIMENT 11 Plants need light YOU WILL NEED Sprouted cress The cress beneath the cardboard shapes doesn’t get any light. It stops producing green coloring and turns quite pale. Over time, it will die. Plants need light in order to live and grow!
  • Page 24 EXPERIMENT 12 Plants need warmth YOU WILL NEED You can use the zinnia seedlings from Experiment 3. Water External conditions are very important when growing plants. In order to thrive, they need nutrients, as you found out in Experiment 10. They also need water, warmth, and air.

  • Page 25: The Young Botanist

    The Young Botanist...
  • Page 26 EXPERIMENT 13 Contaminated soil YOU WILL NEED Sprouted cress Water Salt Dish soap Tape Water Salt The cress doesn’t like the new watering liquid. The test Dish samples shrivel because salt soap and dish soap have a harmful effect on plants. But maybe the dish soap you have at home is biodegradable! In that case, the cress plants can...
  • Page 27 The Young Botanist EXPERIMENT 14 Sweaty plants YOU WILL NEED Water You can perform the same experiment with a larger potted plant or a tree outside in the garden. Place a plastic bag over a twig with leaves on it and tie it tightly closed with a piece of string.
  • Page 28 An adult can help you make the cardboard pea maze! EXPERIMENT 15 Pea labyrinth YOU WILL NEED Use a shoe box (or another Cut holes. suitable box), some pieces of cardboard, and some tape to assemble a pea maze as shown Scissors here.
  • Page 29 The Young Botanist Pea seed Check the pot often to make sure the soil is moist. Open the box very carefully so you do not disturb the plant or pot. After watering, close the box carefully. Your plant senses the direction the light is coming from and grows toward it.
  • Page 30 EXPERIMENT 16 Ghost peas YOU WILL NEED Dried peas (from the supermarket) Water Clean empty aluminum can (optional) The peas soak up water. When they do this, they get bigger and need more room. The peas at the very top are pushed off by the ones underneath and fall from the cup onto the floor of the greenhouse.
  • Page 31 The Young Botanist EXPERIMENT 17 Ask a grown-up to cut a little Cress and grass section of grass sod from the yard or park. YOU WILL NEED Sprouted cress Small patch of living grass sod Scissors After you cut the tops off, the grass grows back and it will soon look the way it did before you cut it, while the cress does not grow back.
  • Page 32 EXPERIMENT 18 *Not all plants are suitable for Plant cuttings growing from cuttings. Try it with geraniums, spider plants, YOU WILL NEED rosemary, lavender, roses, philodendron, or begonias. Watch out for thorns! Cuttings from suitable plants* Water Also try cutting a dandelion stem into little pieces and placing them on a damp paper towel.
  • Page 33 The Young Botanist EXPERIMENT 19 The water lily YOU WILL NEED Water Scissors 10 Minutes The paper absorbs water, which pushes into tiny spaces in the paper fibers. As the paper swells up and the folds expand, the flower gradually opens, mimicking how a water lily flower opens up in the sunshine.
  • Page 34 EXPERIMENT 20 The green carrot YOU WILL NEED Carrot with part of stem Knife Water A carrot has the ability to grow a whole new plant out of some of its parts. All you have to do is provide favorable growing conditions (enough light, air, and moisture).

  • Page 35: Green Thumb Gardening

    Green Thumb Gardening...
  • Page 36 EXPERIMENT 21 My herb garden *Use a high-quality potting soil, YOU WILL NEED as normal potting soil often contains too much fertilizer. Always water the soil so that it is only slightly damp. Make sure the soil is not sopping wet. Soil* Small scoop or old spoon Herb seeds...
  • Page 37 Green Thumb Gardening Parsley Cover seeds well with soil, as they prefer to sprout in Chives the dark, and keep moist. April–August Sow in rows, cover with just a little soil, and press down. 8–14 Days Starting mid-May Germination temperature 15–20 °C (59–68 °F) 8–14 Days Loose, fertile soil, sun to...
  • Page 38 EXPERIMENT 22 Important! The brown coating on the avocado pit inhibits sprouting, so it has to Avocado plant be removed. It’s easiest if the YOU WILL NEED avocado pit is already wet. Take it out of the water, remove the coating, and suspend it in fresh water again.
  • Page 39 Green Thumb Gardening Avocado Remove the pit from the fruit and suspend it in water with toothpicks. 2 Weeks – 4 Months Germination temperature 20–25 °C (68–77 °F) Refill the water as it evaporates from the glass. When the roots are 3–4 cm long, carefully re-pot into a flowerpot with potting soil.
  • Page 40 An adult should help you remove the seeds from the EXPERIMENT 23 pepper with a knife. My vegetable garden YOU WILL NEED Red pepper Knife Saucer Water When your plants grow larger, you will have to plant them in a larger pot and give them a little Place the pot under stake or pole to cling to.
  • Page 41 Green Thumb Gardening Pepper Soak dried seeds for 2 days and let them swell up or use fresh seeds right from a pepper. Plant the seeds about 1 cm deep in the soil and press down firmly. Seeds should be planted about 2 cm apart.
  • Page 42 Tomato Zucchini Plant seeds about 1 cm deep in the soil, keep warm and evenly moist until Space seeds far apart or plant germination. in individual pots, cover with some soil, and press down. Mid-May From mid-May 8–14 Days Germination temperature 7–14 Days 20–22 °C (68–72 °F) In a sunny location...
  • Page 43 Green Thumb Gardening EXPERIMENT 24 My sea of flowers YOU WILL NEED The zinnias from Experiment 3 will go really Soil well in the sea of flowers, Small scoop or old spoon too! The chocolate cosmos is a Flower seeds really cool plant.
  • Page 44 Sweet peas Plant a seed in the soil Cosmos every 5 cm, 4–5 cm deep. Cover seeds with a layer of March–April soil 0.5 cm deep, press down, and water. 14–21 Days Starting in May Germination temperature about 15 °C (59 °F), full sun 14–20 Days Water liberally and fertilize occasionally...
  • Page 45 Green Thumb Gardening Chocolate cosmos Plant the seeds about 0.5 cm deep and water carefully. April–May 20–25 Days Germination temperature 18–20 °C (64–68 °F), full sun Water amply, loosening the soil regularly to prevent it from getting waterlogged. July–October Its sweet chocolate-like smell attracts bees, bumblebees, and butterflies.

  • Page 46: Natural Crafts For Every Season

    Natural Crafts for Every Season...
  • Page 47 Natural Crafts for Every Season EXPERIMENT 25 Grass seeds Grass head YOU WILL NEED Old nylon stocking Grass seeds (from a home center) Soil Small scoop or old spoon Pins Water As the grass seeds germinate, When the grass is long they grow out through the sock.
  • Page 48 Warning! Before you start, be sure to read the safety EXPERIMENT 26 advice on the inside front cover of this manual. Beetle and snail Plaster YOU WILL NEED Plaster Water Clean, empty yogurt cup Paint brush Paints in various colors You can use the plaster molds over and over again and make new...
  • Page 49 Natural Crafts for Every Season EXPERIMENT 27 Play in a sunny Summer sock garden meadow in your socks. YOU WILL NEED Sunny meadow in summer Old wool socks Soil Small scoop or old spoon The seeds get caught in your socks and remain stuck there.
  • Page 50 EXPERIMENT 29 From tiny acorns... YOU WILL NEED Acorn Make sure the Water acorn is only halfway in the water! Leave your After a few days, the acorn’s shell will split little oak tree inside and a thick root will grow down into the the house until water.
  • Page 51 Kosmos Quality and Safety More than one hundred years of expertise in publishing science experiment kits stand behind every product that bears the Kosmos name. Kosmos experiment kits are designed by an experienced team of specialists and tested with the utmost care during development and production.