When water goes up a tube 10 meters, it creates a perfect vacuum in the tube above that point, and the water can go no higher. So how does a tree get water to the top? Part of a larger series, an intriguing video installment poses this question to scientists from various disciplines before explaining the actual answer.

Concepts

trees, xylem

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Experiment with sucking liquid up a long straw, as in the video
• Discuss in more detail the difference in atm for gas versus liquid

Classroom Considerations

• Educational content ends at 5:11

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Offers subtitles in 13 languages for ELLs
• Demonstrates the hypothesis portion of the scientific method
• Short length helps maintain viewer focus

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.9-10.2 SL.11-12.2 RST.9-10.4 RST.11-12.4