Welcome to Learn While You Play
Today’s Activity: Playing in the Leaves
Question: Why do leaves change color in the fall?
(What other questions do your children have about leaves?)
New word: Autumn
Books:
It’s Fall! by Linda Glasser
Why Do Leaves Change Color? by Betsy Maestro
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
Math:
Collect leaves outside. When you are back inside, sort the leaves by color or by size or by shape. Once the leaves are sorted, create patterns with the children. Have the children glue their patterns on paper to be displayed on the walls.
Science:
Read the book: Why Do Leaves Change Color?
Talk about the leaves and how they change colors.
Language/art:
Write a story with the children. The story can go something like this:
Today when I went walking, I saw a ______________ leaf. Each child can draw, paint or create a leaf that they can add to their page in the book. If you use clear contact paper over each page, once you bind it together, the book last longer.
Answer:
Plants make their own food. They take water from the ground through their roots. They take a gas called carbon dioxide from the air.
Then the plants turn water and carbon dioxide into food using sunlight and something called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is green. It gives leaves their green color.
 Many plants stop making food in the fall. They are preparing for winter days that are short and dry. The chlorophyll goes away. Then we can see orange and yellow colors. These colors were in the leaves all summer, but the green covered them up. Some leaves turn red. This color is made in the fall, from food trapped in the leaves. Brown colors are also made in the fall. They come from wastes left in the leaves.
|
