You are here

Home

Activity

Extracting dyes from plants

Summary: 
Crush plants to see the dye colours that are released, and learn what plant dyes First Nations people use. Optional: use plant dye(s) to make a greeting card.
Science content (2016 curriculum): 
Biology: First People’s sustainable use of Living Things (K, 2, 3)
Chemistry: First People’s Materials/Separation methods (1, 6)
image
Lessons activity is in: 
Plant Dyes
People and Plants
Materials: 
  • worksheet (attached)
  • plants to crush: oregon grape stem, dogwood stem, green grass/leaves, yellow and red flowers, blueberries

    • Optional for art project:

  • green fern, or other chosen plant
  • cloth squares
  • tape
  • hammer/rock
  • wooden board to hammer on
  • newspaper to protect board or table
  • cards with window cut out
  • glue
Procedure: 

Crush the plants on the worksheet, to show what colour dyes they contain. The colour may change depending on the chemistry of the paper, and some colours will fade with time as light changes their chemistry.

Crushing to extract the juice from a plant is one of the methods used in plant preparation. Other methods used by First Peoples to prepare medicinal plants (from J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2012; 8:7):

Preparation method Decription
Paste Fresh plant parts are crushed to obtain a paste used externally or internally.
Poltice Plant parts are crushed to obtain a soft moist mass generally used externally to treat swellings, pain, inflamed or infected body parts.
Juice Obtained by squeezing or crushing plant parts and filtering through cloth. Sometimes requires addition of freshwater or other liquid for dilution.
Powder Obtained by crushing dried plant parts.
Chewing Fresh plant parts are chewed without prior transformation.
Infusion Plant parts are plunged in either hot or cold water for several minutes. If hot water is used infusion is taken as a tea. More than one plant species can be used in conjunction.
Decoction Plant parts are boiled in water for several minutes and the extract is used. More than one plant species can be used in conjunction.

Optional art project to make a card:
Lay pieces of fern on a piece of the cloth in a design you like.
Tape the ferns to the cloth. Make sure they are completely covered with tape.
Use the hammer, or a rock, to pound the ferns onto the cloth. Smash the ferns completely, so their colour transfers to the cloth.
Peel the tape and ferns off the cloth.
Open the card and put a few drops of glue around the edge of the window.
Lay your cloth fern design over the window, so that it is held in place by the glue.
A beautiful card made form a natural dye!

Green leaf chemistry:
The green colour in the fern leaves is called chlorophyll. In living plants, chlorophyll traps the sun's energy for plants to grow.
The First Nations have been making dyes from plants for a long time. The leaves, petals, bark and seeds of plants have all been used to make different dye colours.

Attached documents: 
PDF icon plant_dyes_worksheet.pdf
PDF icon plant_dyes_graphics_for_van_dusen.pdf
PDF icon plant_dyes_take_home_sheet.pdf
Notes: 

Pink rhododendron petals also work well, and their colour lasts for a while.

Grades taught: 
Gr K
Gr 1
Gr 2
Gr 3
Gr 4
Gr 5
Gr 6
Teacher: 
Carla Mountali
Chloe Lam
Elizabeth Astbury
Kathryn Mazzone
Melissa Marshall
Wendy Zwaagstra
Teaching site: 
Brock Elementary
McKechnie Elementary
Selkirk Elementary
Van Dusen Botanical Garden
Activity originally developed and delivered: 

Van Dusen Botanical Garden
Worksheet developed at Brock Elementary with the Scientist in Residence Program https://scientistinresidence.ca