Activity 3: What happens to leaves during the different seasons?

Seasons come and go and so do leaves of deciduous trees! Check out the diagram below to learn about what happens to leaves throughout the 4 seasons:

 

This diagram depicts the different seasons and what happens to tree leaves as the seasons change. There are four images within the circle diagrams, the first is of tree buds in spring, the second image is of a summer tree in full bloom, the third image is of colorful fall leaves in West Virginia and lastly the fourth image is of winter trees with no leaves with snow on the trees and ground.

Diagram created by Intern Kelly Savannah; Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

 

Activity: PAW PAW LEAF “COLOR, SCRATCH, AND REVEAL”

This fun activity helps to emphasize what happens to leaves after the green pigment (chlorophyll) in leaves fades during the change of seasons.

 

Materials needed:

• Paw Paw leaf template
• A coin for rubbing
• Orange, yellow, red & green crayons
• Parent to help supervise the activity (to avoid choking hazard of coin)

 

Instructions:

1. Print the template. *Note: Heavy paper works best.
2. Have the child/ children color the Paw Paw Leaf with the red, orange or yellow crayon or it can be a combination of all 3 colors.
3. After the they have finished coloring the leaf red, orange or yellow, ask the child/children to use the green crayon to color leaf until you can no longer see the color underneath the green (see image below).
4. Using a coin, have the child/children scratch off the green crayon to reveal the leaf color(s) underneath.
5. Remind the children that as the green color (the chlorophyll) fades, the beautiful fall colors in the leaf are revealed.

 

Collage of three different examples for how one can color in the Paw Paw Leaf template. The first image is of a Yellow Paw Paw leaf to express yellow pigment. The second image is of a green Paw Paw Leaf and the green has been scratched off with a penny to show the yellow pigment underneath. The third image is of a Multi-colored Paw Paw Leaf and the green has been scratched off with a penny to show the red, orange and/or yellow pigments underneath.

Drawings by Intern Kelly Savannah with NPS