Planting Secrets

Trees in a forest

Plants and climate change: a love-hate relationship! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Carbon dioxide, or CO2, is a major contributor to climate change. But it’s also a plant food source. When the sun shines, plants turn CO2 into food! So, back when there were

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Flower Power Devour

Could flower power take a bite out of the energy crisis?  This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Most plants get their energy from the sun, but carnivorous plants eat ANIMALS! They each have a special way to trap their prey. Could this inspire new energy-harnessing

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Bug Off!

Unbe-leaf-able! Plants can be SO defensive!  This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. You just brought home this plant and the leaves are already chewed up? How can we protect our green beauties? The answer could be. . . Tobacco plants. . They produce an arsenal

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Moon Plane(e)ts

How do you grow a flower on the moon? You planet! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Three, two, one, blast off! Next stop? The Moon! In nineteen sixty-nine, Neil Armstrong was the first human to step on the Moon. Since then, scientists have wondered:

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Plants’ Sunscreen

Do plants get SUNBURNS?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. It’s great to have some fun in the sun… for humans and vegetation alike! We get some vitamin D, they get some energy to make food… But sunlight on the UV spectrum is dangerous… It

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Green Light Plant Flight

It’s a bird, it’s a plane . . . it’s a – scientist in a helicopter!? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Living beings, like plants, reflect light in unique spiral patterns into the environment. Non-living things — like buildings and bridges – not so

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Fighting Fire with Fire

Photo of wildfires.

Does like cure like when it comes to… WILDFIRES?  This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Fire season is coming! One way to help avoid the destruction? Prescribed burns! This technique has been used to control wildfires for years. But it can cause the soil to

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Rice the Flag

Rice field

When the flag goes up – it’s suppertime! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Flag leaves are the last leaves to appear on a rice plant – signaling that it’s ready to produce food! They also contribute around HALF the nutrients we get in rice.

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Plant Magicians

Fritillaria flower in different colors and diverse background environments

If you want to survive – hide in plain sight! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. In the mountains of southwest China grows a lucrative treasure called Fritillaria. This flower is commonly used in traditional medicine and comes in THREE colors – gray, brown, and

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