Pine Cone Science Experiment (Put it in water and it will open)
Channel: Kids Fun Science
Date: 2023-04-18

Pine Cone Science Experiment
Made for parents and teachers

Pine Cones 
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iMovie for editing

Chapters
0:00 Kids Fun Science Intro
0:52 1st or 3 experiments - Room temperature water with pine cone 
1:30 2nd of 3 experiments - HOT tap water with pine cone
2:07 Science Behind it - Why Pine cones open and close
3:02 3rd of 3 experiments - Closed Pine cones into oven
3:57 Results

What you need?
Pine cones
Jar
Water
Fishing weights (optional)
Oven

WHAT ARE PINE CONES?
Pine cones grow on pine trees. They are how pine trees reproduce, or, in other words, make more trees. Usually, male and female pine cones are born on the same tree. Typically, the male cones, which produce pollen, are located on the lower branches of the tree. This is to prevent the pollen from falling on the female cones of the same tree. 

This is because male pine cones are much smaller and live only for a short length of time, usually in the spring. Male pine cones do not make the hard-shelled woody case like the female pine cones do. They are soft and spongy.

Each female pine cone has numerous spirally arranged scales, with two seeds on each fertile scale. Male pine cones produce pollen, which is like a powder.

PINECONE SCIENCE
Did you know that female pine cones open and close depending on the weather? It’s true! When a female pine cone is in a warm and dry place, the pine cone opens up to expose the cone’s seeds. When it is in a damp or cold place, the scales close up tightly. This is how a female pine cone protects its seeds. She keeps them safe from the rain and cold air. Watch this fast time-lapse video to see it in action!

When you put your cones into the water, they closed, but then when you put them in the oven for a while, they opened back up again. The big differences are that the water is  wet and the oven is warm and dry.

When pine cone scales (that’s what each piece is called) are open, it allows seeds to be pollinated and fly away from the tree to hit the ground elsewhere and hopefully sprout. When they are closed, that can’t happen. Pine cones hold onto their seeds in cold, wet weather because in that environment, seeds are more likely to fall right down next to the tree and sprout there, where they can’t get a lot of sunlight or nutrients because the parent tree is already using them. In warm, dry weather, though, the seeds are more likely to get caught in the wind and fly far away to a place where they might have more access to sunlight and soil nutrients. So pine cones opening and closing is kind of a way for the tree to make sure its children have a good, long life.

What happens if you put them in cold water compared to hot water?
Note the changes!
How long does it take them to reopen in the oven?
Can you find pine cones from different types of pine trees?
Do they open and close at the same rate?

Make a guess, set up your experience, then test your hypothesis, just like a scientist!

#pineconeexperiment #pinecones #pinesconescience