J. H. "From where does the wood come"

1. All students present ideas that make a certain degree of sense, with the exception of student A, who believes that trees are made out of nothing but water. Student B believes that they may use sunlight to make their food, which they do (chlorophyll). Student C believes that the minerals in the soil might have helped. This is also true, and you might notice that trees grow faster and/or bigger in rich soil. Student D said that gasses might have helped as well, and, as science would have it, trees need Co2 to survive. While student A was semi-correct in believing that water was the defining substance trees are made of (cells are largely water), they are not the ONLY thing that trees need to flourish.

2. He had not taken into account that the minerals in the earth can be absorbed without actually actively consuming dirt, and I doubt anyone would fault him. His conclusion that somehow, trees were made of water was advanced scientifically for his age, and he was mostly correct. Plant cells are indeed mostly water, after all. Coupled with this lack of understanding is that his experiment was relatively flawed. He could have backed up/proved his experiments data by placing a tree in nothing but water... yet he didn't. That he lost soil could be an issue as well.