Teachers and families across the country are facing a new reality of providing opportunities for students to do science through distance and home learning. The Daily Do is one of the ways NSTA is supporting teachers and families with this endeavor. Each weekday, NSTA will share a sensemaking task teachers and families can use to engage their students in authentic, relevant science learning. We encourage families to make time for family science learning (science is a social process!) and are dedicated to helping students and their families find balance between learning science and the day-to-day responsibilities they have to stay healthy and safe.

Interested in learning about other ways NSTA is supporting teachers and families? Visit the NSTA homepage.

Sensemaking is actively trying to figure out how the world works (science) or how to design solutions to problems (engineering). Students do science and engineering through the science and engineering practices. Engaging in these practices necessitates that students be part of a learning community to be able to share ideas, evaluate competing ideas, give and receive critique, and reach consensus. Whether this community of learners is made up of classmates or family members, students and adults build and refine science and engineering knowledge together.

In today's Daily Do, What happened to our celery?, families participate in a Dinner Table Discussion (see below) about the phenomenon of cut celery stalks changing from rigid to wilted (or rubbery) to rigid again. This sensemaking discussion has four parts:

1. Families raise the question "What happened to our celery?" by introducing the phenomenon of celery stalks, a common snack, changing from rigid to wilted (or rubbery). Students and their families observe the different parts of the celery stalk, taking particular notice of the water that seems to be held inside the stalk.
    
2. Families ask students to explain what they currently understand about how and why they think they celery stalks stay rigid (the water stays inside) even though they have been cut.
    
3. Families prompt students to generate questions about celery, considering it as both a snack and as a plant.
    
4. Families read an article and do an activity together to find some answers to their questions about celery.

If this is your first Dinner Table Discussion in the Daily Do series, NSTA recommends reading the guidance below before trying your first family discussion.

Purchase celery from the grocery store and ask your students to observe it. You can combine this activity with preparing a fun, healthy snack by spreading peanut butter or hummus (for peanut-allergic children) and raisins on the celery. As your students enjoy the snack, ask them to make observations about the celery. Support them in making observations by asking probing questions such as these:

1. What things do you notice about the celery?
2. What do you notice when you snap the celery stick in half?
3. What part of the plant is a celery stalk?

Students will make various descriptions of the celery. They may mention the celery stalk's rigidity, describing the stalks as “hard” or “firm.” They may notice the color. Students might also notice moisture in or around the outside of the celery stalk. All of these observations are valuable for prompting students to think about water being inside the celery stalk.

The leaves need water to complete the process of photosynthesis. Younger students will not know this yet, but older students may.

Place a celery stalk in the microwave for 30 seconds. Ask students to observe the celery stalk and how it is different from when they first observed it. Ask them to describe what properties have changed and what they observe now that they didn’t before. Students will mention the celery is soft, almost “rubbery,” and it has lost its rigidity. Ask them why they think this happened.

Read the NSTA article by Kathleen Damonte titled “Up Goes the Water.”

After reading the article, ask your children the following questions:

• What is one new thing you learned that you didn’t know before?

• Which of our original questions did our discussion and the article answer?

• What other questions do you have about how plants move water from one part to another?

This DTD has two optional extension activities.

1. Purchase lettuce heads from the store (romaine works the best) and ask children to make observations of the lettuce when you first purchase it. Allow the lettuce head to wilt for a few days in the refrigerator. Ask students to make observations of it again, noting the leaves are softer and not as rigid compared to when you first observed it. Place the lettuce head(s) into a container of water and observe them the next morning. Ask students to explain what they think happened after placing the lettuce into a container of water.

2. Get fresh celery stalks (preferably with leafy tops) from the grocery store. Fill a glass half full of water, place the celery in it, and add 3 drops of food coloring (red and blue work the best). After several hours, ask students to make observations of the leaves. Students will notice there are small colored circles that have appeared on the leaves of the stalks. Additionally, students may notice colored lines running along the length of the stalk. Cutting open the celery stalk would reveal multiple colored lines (the same color as the food coloring) running the length of the stalk.

Then read the article titled "How to Revive Lettuce With This Chilling Hack" and ask students to explain how what they learned from observing the celery stalk connects to reviving wilted lettuce.

Now that we understand more about how and why celery (and other plants) hold on to and move water, it makes us wonder about other things about plants and the food we eat. If you and your children would like to pursue an extension activity connected to this Dinner Table Discussion, check out the Daily Do Why is our fruit turning brown?