In science class, Maria observes a white-colored cut flower. She sees that the petals turn red when the flower is sitting in a vase that has red-colored water. She forms a hypothesis that the color reaches the flower through the stem. What should Maria do to confirm the hypothesis?

To confirm the above hypothesis, Maria should perform an experiment to prove that xylem is responsible for the transport of coloured water through the plant. This is called the ascent of sap.

A suitable plant having a tender, semitransparent stem should be selected. The root system of the plant should be cut off and the twig has to be placed half-immersed in a coloured solution of water for about one hour. Later, when the plant is observed, parallely running streaks of coloured water can be seen through the semitransparent stem and other parts of the plant indicating that the xylem is involved in the upward movement of water.

The steps after the construction of hypothesis are testing the hypothesis by doing an experiment, analyzing data and make a conclusion. Maria should do the experiment to confirm the hypothesis. That experiment should be designed to test out the observation that was made (color change). Maybe experiment should