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Reproduction of Living ThingsActivity for Kids

Vegetable Cloning DIY

Duration: 10-15 min
Difficulty: Easy
Cost: $0 to $10

Learn how to clone a vegetable from just a stem!

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Material List

1Romaine lettuce stalk
1Drinking glass
1Cutting knife
1Cup of water
Adult supervision

Instructions

1Carefully cut off the top of the lettuce, leaving just a few centimeters of the stem. Lettuce that still has a little brown on the bottom of the stem works best.
2Place the cut stem in a glass, and fill it with water until it reaches halfway up the stem.
3Place the glass by a windowsill and change the water each day. New leaves will begin to grow in a matter of days.

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How It Works

Some plants, like the romaine lettuce, reproduce sexually, BUT they can also reproduce asexually. When you leave the stem of the lettuce in water for a couple of days, you see that it grows new leaves. This works because lettuce cells can reproduce by copying their DNA and splitting to make new cells! This is a form of asexual reproduction. Farmers can use this property of lettuce for making copies of their best plants.