{"id":928,"date":"2026-01-09T15:19:51","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T20:19:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/dragonfly\/?p=928"},"modified":"2026-02-09T15:30:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T20:30:01","slug":"sea-grape-and-gumbo-leaf-transpiration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/dragonfly\/2026\/01\/sea-grape-and-gumbo-leaf-transpiration\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweating Trees: Which Leaf Wins the Transpiration Race?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Georgia Brown\u2019s Fifth-Grade Students, Sanibel Elementary School, Florida<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor’s Note: Originally published in Dragonfly Magazine in the late 1990s, this timeless and inspiring inquiry was created by young investigators on Sanibel Island, Florida. It remains a perfect example of how local landscapes spark big questions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"A<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"A<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Our Spark<\/strong> Our school is on Sanibel Island, a barrier island on the coast of Florida. Every person and every plant here gets warmed by the sun. We knew that people perspire and plants “transpire” (give off water). But looking around our schoolyard, we saw two very different types of trees, and we had a question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have Sea Grape<\/strong> trees, which have large, round leaves, and Gumbo Limbo<\/strong> trees, which have bunches of tiny leaflets. We wondered: Do the large Sea Grape leaves transpire more water than the smaller Gumbo Limbo leaves?. Our Prediction<\/strong> We predicted that larger leaves would pass more water into the air than smaller leaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"An<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"An<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

How We Investigated<\/strong> We didn’t just guess; we designed a way to catch the water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • The Trap:<\/strong> We cut the corners off plastic bags and taped test tubes into the holes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The Setup:<\/strong> We placed the bags over single Sea Grape leaves and over bunches of Gumbo Limbo leaves. We sealed the bags tightly with masking tape so no air could get in or out.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    The Wait:<\/strong> We left the bags on the trees for 24 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    What We Found<\/strong> When we checked our bags the next day, we saw the difference immediately. The bags on the Sea Grape leaves had collected anywhere from 7 to 10 milliliters<\/strong> of water. But the Gumbo Limbo bags? They had only 2 milliliters or less<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    We proved that Sea Grape leaves are the transpiration champions!.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    GO WILD: YOUR TURN<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • The Challenge:<\/strong> Don’t take our word for it. Find a broad-leaf plant and a needle-leaf plant (like a pine) in your neighborhood.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • The Method:<\/strong> Recreate our “bag trap” using Ziploc bags and tape.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • The Question:<\/strong> Which local tree is the “champion sweater” in your town?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
      \n\n\n\n

      THE FIELD GUIDE (For Educators)<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

      Subject:<\/strong> Plant Physiology \/ Environmental Science<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Grade Level:<\/strong> 3\u20136 Inquiry Focus:<\/strong> Experimental Design, Variable Control, Measurement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The Science Behind It:<\/strong> This inquiry demonstrates transpiration<\/strong>\u2014the process where water travels from roots, up the stem, and out through stomata in the leaves. The students’ data confirms that leaf surface area (morphology) directly impacts water loss. This is a great entry point for discussing evolutionary adaptations (e.g., why desert plants have spines instead of wide leaves).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Standards Connection:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • NGSS: Structure and Function (LS1.A), Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms (LS1.C).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Skill: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        Materials Needed:<\/strong> Clear plastic bags, masking tape, measuring spoons, or graduated cylinders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        By Georgia Brown\u2019s Fifth-Grade Students, Sanibel Elementary School, Florida Editor’s Note: Originally published in Dragonfly Magazine in the late 1990s, this timeless and inspiring inquiry […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9425,"featured_media":931,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[36,27,34],"class_list":["post-928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wild-inquiry","tag-informal-science-education","tag-inquiry-based-learning","tag-k-12-education"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/dragonfly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/dragonfly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/dragonfly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/dragonfly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9425"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/dragonfly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=928"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/dragonfly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1098,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/dragonfly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/928\/revisions\/1098"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/dragonfly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/dragonfly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/dragonfly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/dragonfly\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}