Internet version [Naruhodo no Mori] Vol.51

by Yumiko Mori

---

Vol. 51     May, 15th, 2000

Digging Dandelion Roots

Home science experiments for mothers of elementary school children

Mom: "Look!  A lot of dandelions are growing here."
Tae: "What are you going to do with dug dandelions?"
Mom: "We can show your friends what dandelion roots look like. I don't think none of your friends has seen them before."
Tae: "Mom, I rather wanted to sleep on bed a little longer."
Mom: "Don't complain.  Let's go to dig dandelions!"

Tae and Mom start digging a dandelion plant at the corner in the park.

Mom: "This area is very sandy.  It's easier to dig."
Tae: "Mom, you dig from that side.  I am going to dig from this side."
Mom: "As we dig deeper, the soil is getting harder. Also the soil color becomes different. This soil is more reddish."
Tae: "That's true!  Mom, how deep are we going to dig?"
Mom: "Try to dig out the longest root as possible."
Tae: "The longest root?"
Mom: "Oh, no! Accidentally I have chopped off the root."
Tae: "Oh, No!  We have been digging this much. That's too bad! I am going to dig myself over there."

Tae has decided to dig her own dandelion.

Mom: "Tae, are you digging OK?"
Tae: "Look!  My root is almost 30 cm long."
Mom: "That's very good!"
Tae: "How about yours?"
Mom: "Well, I've got a little backache. I wish I can lie down somewhere."
Tae: "I told you so! It's best to have an extra sleep at home on a day like this."

Materials

Dandelions
A shovel
A wood stick
A ruler, a packing tape, and a plastic bag

How to dig

1. Find a dandelion you can dig.

2. Dig a hole around the dandelion. The hole can be about 20 cm in radius.
   Dig carefully with a wood stick, when you dig near the roots.

3. If you accidentally cut the roots, put a piece of tape around the roots to preserve the root shape.
   Measure the length of the whole roots.

4. Put dug soil back to the hole.

10 Discovery by Digging Dandelions

• The soil quality changes with the depth.

• You can find various insects living on different layers of the soil.

• Try digging the other plants. You will find different plants have different root shapes.

• Some roots are easy to dig, but others are not so easy.

• In order to dig deeper, you need to dig wider area.

• Plants with more leaves and flowers do not have necessary thicker roots.

  

• It's difficult to dig if a big tree is standing nearby.

• Roots do not always extend straight down.

• Dandelion coffee (which is made of dandelions) didn't taste good.

• You realize dandelion plant you are familiar with is only a part of the whole plant.

* You can cook Dandelion coffee from their roots, if you are interested in.

* There are many more interesting facts about Dandelions.

   I have never used this much concentration and patience until this experiment. You may think root digging is easy. It was much harder than I had anticipated. If you worry your children don't have patience, why don't you try doing "Dandelion digging" with your children on a sunny spring day?

---