DIY: Pine Cone Experiment | Tinkerer Box Blog

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Pine Cone Experiment

Stem Activities

Ages: 3-8

Greater than 30 minutes

Grownup needed

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You've probably seen pine cone scales open up, but do you know how to make them close? This simple experiment reveals nature's wisdom and demonstrates a clever self-protection mechanism in plants.

Materials Needed

Glass
Hot water
Pine cone

Two clear glasses, one empty and cylindrical, the other partially filled with water and slightly taller with a more rectangular shape, sit on a white marble surface. A small pine cone, dusted with white or silver paint or glitter, lies near the glasses. The arrangement suggests a simple still life or the preparation for a science experiment or demonstration.

Step-by-step tutorial

Step 1

Place the pine cone in the glass.

A small pine cone, partially painted white, sits inside a clear glass cylinder on a marble surface. In the blurred background, a beaker with blue liquid, a novelty beaker with googly eyes and green arms, and colorful test tubes are visible, suggesting a science experiment or demonstration involving the pine cone.

Step 2

Pour hot water into the glass - be careful not to scald yourself, and ask an adult for help with this step.

Water is being poured from a clear bottle into a clear glass cylinder containing a pine cone partially painted white. The pine cone is submerged in the water, and small bubbles are visible. Blurred in the background are a beaker with blue liquid, a novelty beaker with googly eyes and green arms, and colorful test tubes, indicating a science experiment or demonstration, likely showing the effect of water absorption on the pine cone.

Step 3

Wait patiently for 15 minutes and observe what happens to the pine cone.

A pine cone, partially painted white, floats near the surface of the water in a clear glass cylinder sitting on a marble countertop. A few small bubbles cling to the pine cone and the water's surface. Blurred in the background, a beaker of blue liquid, a novelty beaker with googly eyes and green arms, and colorful test tubes suggest a science experiment demonstrating the pine cone's buoyancy and/or water absorption.

Step 4

Once the water has cooled, remove the pine cone and compare how it has changed!

Two hands hold pine cones against a blurred white background. The pine cone on the left is tightly closed and covered in white paint, while the one on the right is open, with its scales spread out, and has less white paint, revealing more of its natural brown color. Yellow cartoon-style lines above the pine cones emphasize the difference between them. This image likely illustrates the results of a science experiment demonstrating how pine cones react to water, with the closed cone being the before and the open cone the after.

The Science Behind It:

When a pine cone is submerged in hot water, its scales contract because they are made of wooden fibres that absorb water. When water enters the scales, they expand and twist, causing them to close.

This phenomenon is actually a protection mechanism. When the scales close, they protect the seeds inside the pine cone, preventing excessive water loss and helping it survive in extreme conditions. This is one of the ways plants adapt to environmental changes.

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