Cloning For Kids

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This is written with the parent in mind. Projects should be supervised by an adult.

Plant Reproduction Project:

You will need:

1. A plant. Preferably a fast growing tree or shrub such as a willow or better yet a weeping willow.

2. Very sharp pruners.

3. Some fine potting soil.

4. Some planting pots.

What will be doing, is making new plants from existing ones. This is sometimes called "cloning", which is exactly what it is. Some of the more technical terms are, asexual reproduction, and propagation. This has been done almost from the beginning of time, but is as fresh and new, as genetic engineering, and tissue culture reproduction. Cloning a plant by making a cutting, is really not much different from the tissue culture process, it is just using more cells. Tissue cultures take a few cells, and reproduce an entire plant from them in laboratory conditions. What we will be doing is taking a pretty large number of cells, and reproducing a tree in your garage, or classroom.

The Steps:

1. Fill your pots with soil. Make more than you want to keep, because some of them will not make it. and you may want to use some of them to demonstrate what is happening to your student.

2. Take cuttings from your plant material. These should be fresh, woody tissue (green cuttings can often be rooted in a glass of water) about 4 to 6 inches in length, and have a bud no more than a quarter inch from the bottom of the cutting, and one or more buds , closer to the top. Make the cuttings at an angle, and make sure there are no ragged edges, or loose bark. A sharp knife can be used to trim them back if needed.

3. Poke a hole in the potting soil inside the pot, and insert the cutting. Pack the soil gently but firmly around it and water it, being sure that there are no voids or air pockets. You should try to make sure that there will absolutely be an out door destination for these trees, so that they can grow with your students. The results of a child watching a living thing that he or she had a part in, is amazing!

This is what happens:

1. In a few days, you will notice the upper buds beginning to elongate and create shoots.

2. Below the soil line, and a little later in the process, the bud near the bottom will begin to heal the cut, and produce callous.

3. The calloused area will begin to produce roots. and soon, a viable new clone, with all the genetic characteristics of the parent plant will come about.

Why this happens:

The science behind this is, that the growth, reproductive, and healing mechanisms embedded in the genetic code of the cutting take over, and try to heal the plant, finding the need to reproduce leaves for photosynthesis, and roots to get nutrients. This occurs more rapidly at the plants growth points, such as junctions and buds, these areas contain a higher concentration of growth cells, and therefore heal and reproduce more quickly.

Lessons: Plant growth, Genetics, Cloning, genetic engineering, and a wide variety of other subjects can be used for further research for your child. This opens up a world of topics!

NOTE: It may also be of benefit, to explain that this plant now has all the genetic characteristics of the mother plant, both good and bad, and help them understand the need for bio diversity. It could also be used as a springboard into a history discussion about such events as the Irish potato blight, and the North American chess nut blight, both events being the result of not having bio diversity.

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