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Resource #1: TinyTaps - autumn leaves, autumn leaves where are you?

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Resource #1: TinyTaps - autumn leaves, autumn leaves where are you?

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This is a quick game that students can play that helps them identify the fall leaves. It allows them to work on over/under/beside vocabulary as well as picking out the right leaves.

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Choose the correct location (preposition) | Autumn Leaves | Vocabulary - Learn age appropriate vocabulary., Prepositions - Learn to use words to describe location of objects in relation to other objects.

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This short video with Tim and Moby has a great explanation of the fall leaves changing colors. It is quick to the point, informative, and entertaining.

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BrainPOP - Autumn Leaves (100th Video Special)

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Resource #3: The Very Hungry Caterpillar's First Fall

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Resource #3: The Very Hungry Caterpillar's First Fall

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar books are great for elementary students. This book gives more details about the Fall season which will help students gain a better understanding of the season itself. It is a great book to keep students engaged.

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This is an article from NTSA. It talks about the different seasons and how they can be identified by physical features.

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Daily Do

How can we tell what season it is?

1. NSTA

2. How can we tell what season it is?

Welcome to NSTA's Daily Do

Teachers and families across the country are facing a new reality of providing opportunities for students to do science through distance and home learning. The Daily Do is one of the ways NSTA is supporting teachers and families with this endeavor. Each weekday, NSTA will share a sensemaking task teachers and families can use to engage their students inauthentic, relevant science learning.We encourage families to make time for family science learning (science is a social process!) and are dedicated to helping students and their families find balance between learning science and the day-to-day responsibilities they have to stay healthy and safe.

Interested in learning about other ways NSTA is supporting teachers and families? Visit the NSTA homepage.

What is sensemaking?

Sensemaking is actively trying to figure out how the world works (science) or how to design solutions to problems (engineering). Students do science and engineering through the science and engineering practices. Engaging in these practices necessitates students be part of a learning community to be able to share ideas, evaluate competing ideas, give and receive critique, and reach consensus. Whether this community of learners is made up of classmates or family members, students and adults build and refine science and engineering knowledge together.

Introduction

Today's task is designed for young children and their families, but if you teach elementary or middle school there's still something here for you! Scroll to "Create a Seasons Board!" and see how you can be part of a global data collection initiative.
Could it be we're already beginning to see signs that fall is approaching? Stop, look, listen, and smell. Did you find any signs of fall? What were they?

No matter where you live on Earth, you experience different seasons. Some of us experience four seasons, while others may only experience two (for example, wet and dry season if you live near the equator or winter and summer if you live nearer to the poles). In today's task, How can we tell what season it is?, young children and their families read

Tree: A Peek-Through Picture Book by Britta Teckentrup and begin to think about the seasons they experience where they live and notice a pattern in their occurrence.

Even if the seasons where you live don't match the seasons represented in the story, you might use the book to instill wonder in young children, their older siblings and maybe even the adult members of the family: Where do the people live who experience these seasons? Why don't we experience seasons like this? Do other people experience even different seasons? Why aren't seasons the same everywhere on Earth? What causes the season?

Engaging Students in Exploring the Seasons

You might start with inviting students to do a read aloud or read along of the the story Tree: A Peek-Through Picture Book by Britta Teckentrup. If you don't have access to the book, students can read aloud or read along with the Tree by Britta Teckentrup video.

As you read the story together, you might first stop on the page with the text Owl sits watching in his tree (winter) and ask students to make observations. When you reach the page with text Squirrels scamper here and there (spring), again stop and ask students to make observations. Then flip back to the winter page and ask students to notice things that are the same or similar between the two pages and things that are different. You might continue reading the story in this way, pausing when you reach summer and fall and comparing them to the previous season.

When you reach the page with text The trees are still, the snow lies deep near the end of the book, you might pause and ask your students to predict what they might find on the next page (what happens next). Ask your students, "Why do you think so?"

If you live in an area that experiences similar seasons, you might ask your students to consider which page in the story is most like the current conditions where you live. Ask students to share their thinking. Students might make connections between the story and where they live by comparing the colors of the season, the amount of leaves in the trees, and the kinds and numbers of animals. Say to students, "The colors, leaves on the branches, and kinds and numbers of animals you shared are all ways we can tell it's [season] where we live. Do you think we could find other things that tell us it's [season] where we live?"

If you live in an area that experiences different or very different seasons, share with your students what the current season is where you live. You might ask students, "What are some things that are different between [season] where we live and [season] in the book?" You could then ask, "Do you think we could find other things that tell us it's [season] where we live?"

You might take your students outside and find a comfortable spot to sit together. Ask students to close their eyes and notice the sounds that they hear and/or odors they smell. Give them an opportunity to share the sounds and smells with a partner. Ask students, "If we came here tomorrow, do you think we would hear the same kinds of sounds? Smell the same kinds of smells? Why do you say so?" Then, ask students to think about an event that is familiar to all of them which occurs in a different season (but you don't need to name the season). Say, "If we came back here on [event] day, do you think we would hear the same kinds of sounds? Smell the same kinds of smells? Why do you say so?" You might together conclude the sounds and smells they observed today could be used to tell us it's [season] where we live.

You could also take a walk to a local green space and make and record (with assistance as needed) observations of the plants, animals or even colors (especially if you are working with very young students) you find there. You might ask the same type of questions as you did before. Could the different types and number of plants and animals you find there be used to tell us it's [season] where we live? Could the way the different plants and animals look (the color and amount of leaves, the presence of flowers, fruits, or vegetables, the color or thickness of coats of animals, the presence of baby animals) be used to tell us if it's [season] where we live? Could the colors we see be used to tell us it's [season] where we live?

Students might also notice they clothes they are wearing. You might ask, "If we came back to this place tomorrow (or next week) would we need the same kinds of clothes to stay warm (or cool or dry)? Why do you say so?" And then, "If we came back to this place on [event] day, would we wear the same kinds of clothes to stay warm (or cool or dry) Why do you say so?" Again, you might conclude that the kind of clothes we wear could be used to tell us it's [season] where we live.

All throughout the investigation, students may share questions with you. You might record these questions and then record them publicly when you return indoors. Consider grouping like questions together and then asking students, "Did we answer any of our questions today?" and then, "How might we figure out the answers to these other questions?"

Create a Seasons Board

You might create a seasons board as a class or family project. Consider using Wakelet (free) or a similar digital tool that allows you to easily change, add to and share with other classes or families located in different place on Earth.

If you're new to Wakelet, you can watch this short Introduction to Wakelet video to help you get started.

Whether you create a seasons board for your family, local or global community, consider including the following information:

Season

The months of the year this season represents

Where on Earth you live

Artifacts of the season

Allow students/families to choose the artifacts of the season. Artifacts chosen will depend on the age and interest of the students in the class or family, but may include:

pictures of the area (plants, animals, sky, clothes worn during the season, etc.)

drawings or paintings (Younger children might represent the season using colors while older children might create scientific drawings of plants and/or animals they observe. How do we know what isopods do? [Part 1] provides guidance on how to support students in creating scientific drawings.)

tree bark and leaf rubbings

written descriptions of the sights, sounds, smells and feels of the season

weather data represented in tables or graphs

Consider sharing your seasons board with others in your local or global community! One way to this is to share the link to your virtual seasons board in the NSTA Learning Center's Earth and Space Science Community Forum post " Create and Share a Seasons Board!"

You can use your family board to observe changes over time and make predictions about the same season next year will bring.

You might view other boards representing seasons in a place similar to the place where you live and look for similarities and differences.

You could look for boards representing seasons for locations all over the country or world to look for similarities and differences and/or spatial patterns (patterns from north to south, east to west, land-locked to coastal, mountains to plains, etc.)

You might come back to the boards at different times throughout the year to identify patterns over time.

Students' noticings may answer some of their questions and/or generate new ones. Do other classes or families have similar questions? How might we investigate?

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Daily Do NSTA How can we tell what season it is? Welcome to NSTA's Daily Do Teachers and families across the country are facing a new reality of providing opportunities for students to do science through distance and home learning. The Daily Do is one of the ways NSTA is supporting teachers and families with this endeavor.

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Resource #5: Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture

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Resource #5: Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture

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The U.S. Department of Agriculture breaks down the science of Autumn leaves. They also break down each type of leaf and give descriptions and data of each.

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Science of Fall Colors

For years, scientists have worked to understand the changes that occur in trees and shrubs during autumn. Although we don't know all the details, we do know enough to explain the basics to help you enjoy nature's multicolored display. Three factors influence autumn leaf color:
- leaf pigments - length of night - weather
The timing of color changes and the onset of falling leaves is primarily regulated by the calendar as nights become longer. None of the other environmental influences - such as temperature, rainfall, food supply - are as unvarying as the steadily increasing length of night during autumn. As days grow shorter, and nights grow longer and cooler, biochemical processes in the leaf begin to paint the landscape with Nature's autumn palette.

Leaf Pigments

A color palette needs pigments, and there are three types that are involved in autumn color:

- Carotenoids: Produces yellow, orange, and brown colors in such things as corn, carrots, and daffodils, as well as rutabagas, buttercups, and bananas.

- Anthocyanin: Gives color to such familiar things as cranberries, red apples, concord grapes, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and plums. They are water soluble and appear in the watery liquid of leaf cells.

- Chlorophyll: Gives leaves a basic green color. It is necessary for photosynthesis, the chemical reaction that enables plants to use sunlight to manufacture sugars for food.

Trees in the temperate zones store these sugars for the winter dormant period.

Both chlorophyll and carotenoids are present in the chloroplasts of leaf cells throughout the growing season. Most anthocyanins are produced in the autumn, in response to bright light and excess plant sugars within leaf cells.

During the growing season, chlorophyll is continually being produced and broken down and leaves appear green. As night length increases in the autumn, chlorophyll production slows down and then stops and eventually all the chlorophyll is destroyed. The carotenoids and anthocyanin that are present in the leaf are then unmasked and show their colors.

Certain colors are characteristic of particular species:

- Oaks: red, brown, or russet

- Hickories: golden bronze

- Aspen and yellow-poplar: golden yellow

- Dogwood: purplish red

- Beech: light tan

- Sourwood and black tupelo: crimson

The color of maples leaves differ species by species:

- Red maple: brilliant scarlet

- Sugar maple: orange-red

- Black maple: glowing yellow

- Striped maple: almost colorless

Some leaves of some species, such as the elms simply shrivel up and fall, exhibiting little color other than drab brown.

The timing of the color change also varies by species. For example, sourwood in southern forests can become vividly colorful in late summer while all other species are still vigorously green. Oaks put on their colors long after other species have already shed their leaves.

These differences in timing among species seem to be genetically inherited, for a particular species at the same latitude will show the same coloration in the cool temperatures of high mountain elevations at about the same time as it does in warmer lowlands.
Length of Night
In early autumn, in response to the shortening days and declining intensity of sunlight, leaves begin the processes leading up to their fall. The veins that carry fluids into and out of the leaf gradually close off as a layer of cells forms at the base of each leaf. These clogged veins trap sugars in the leaf and promote production of anthocyanin. Once this separation layer is complete and the connecting tissues are sealed off, the leaf is ready to fall.

How does weather affect autumn color?

The amount and brilliance of the colors that develop in any particular autumn season are related to weather conditions that occur before and during the time the chlorophyll in the leaves is dwindling. Temperature and moisture are the main influences.

A succession of warm, sunny days and cool, crisp but not freezing nights seems to bring about the most spectacular color displays. During these days, lots of sugars are produced in the leaf but the cool nights and the gradual closing of veins going into the leaf prevent these sugars from moving out. These conditions - lots of sugar and light - spur production of the brilliant anthocyanin pigments, which tint reds, purples, and crimson. Because carotenoids are always present in leaves, the yellow and gold colors remain fairly constant from year to year.

The amount of moisture in the soil also affects autumn colors. Like the weather, soil moisture varies greatly from year to year. The countless combinations of these two highly variable factors assure that no two autumns can be exactly alike. A late spring, or a severe summer drought, can delay the onset of fall color by a few weeks. A warm period during fall will also lower the intensity of autumn colors. A warm wet spring, favorable summer weather, and warm sunny fall days with cool nights should produce the most brilliant autumn colors.
What does all this do for the tree?

Winter is a certainty that all vegetation in the temperate zones must face each year. Perennial plants, including trees, must have some sort of protection to survive freezing temperatures and other harsh wintertime influences. Stems, twigs, and buds are equipped to survive extreme cold so that they can reawaken when spring heralds the start of another growing season. Tender leaf tissues, however, would freeze in winter, so plants must either toughen up and protect their leaves or dispose of them.

Evergreens: pines, spruces, cedars, firs, and so on are able to survive winter because they have toughened up. Their needle-like or scale-like foliage is covered with a heavy wax coating and the fluid inside their cells contains substances that resist freezing. Thus the foliage of evergreens can safely withstand all but the severest winter conditions, such as those in the Arctic. Evergreen needles survive for some years but eventually fall because of old age.

Broad-leaved trees: These are trees that do not have needles or scale-like leaves. They are tender and vulnerable to damage, are typically broad and thin and are not protected by any thick coverings. The fluid in the cells of these leaves is usually a thin, watery sap that freezes readily, which makes them vulnerable in the winter when temperatures fall below freezing. Tissues unable to overwinter must be sealed off and shed to ensure the plant's continued survival.
What happens to all those fallen leaves?
Needles and leaves that fall are not wasted. They decompose and restock the soil with nutrients and make up part of the spongy humus layer of the forest floor that absorbs and holds rainfall. Fallen leaves also become food for numerous soil organisms vital to the forest ecosystem.

It is quite easy to see the benefit to the tree of its annual leaf fall, but the advantage to the entire forest is more subtle. It could well be that the forest could no more survive without its annual replenishment from leaves than the individual tree could survive without shedding these leaves. The many beautiful interrelationships in the forest community leave us with myriad fascinating puzzles still to solve.
Where can I see autumn color in the United States?
You can find autumn color in parks and woodlands, in the cities, countryside, and mountains - anywhere you find deciduous broadleaved trees, the ones that drop their leaves in the autumn. New England is rightly famous for the spectacular autumn colors painted on the trees of its mountains and countryside, but the Adirondack, Appalachian, Smoky, and Rocky Mountains are also clad with colorful displays. In the East, we can see the reds, oranges, golds, and bronzes of the mixed deciduous woodlands; in the West, we see the bright yellows of aspen stands and larches contrasting with the dark greens of the evergreen conifers.

Many of the Forest Service's 100 plus National Scenic Byways were planned with autumn color in mind. Almost every one of them offers a beautiful, colorful drive sometime in the autumn.
When is the best time to see autumn color?
Unfortunately, autumn color is not very predictable, especially in the long term. Half the fun is trying to outguess nature! But it generally starts in late September in New England and moves southward, reaching the Smoky Mountains by early November. It also appears about this time in the high-elevation mountains of the West. Remember that cooler high elevations will color up before the valleys.

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Science of Fall Colors | US Forest Service

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For years, scientists have worked to understand the changes that occur in trees and shrubs during autumn. Although we don't know all the details, we do know enough to explain the basics to help you enjoy nature's multicolored display.

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Professional, John Hamilton, a forester in East Texas

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Professional, John Hamilton, a forester in East Texas

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When the season changes from summer to fall, the leaves change colors too. In the fall, the length of daylight changes as well as the temperature. This causes leaves to stop the process of making food for themselves in order to prepare for the winter. When they stop this, the production of chlorophyll stops as well. Since chlorophyll is what makes the green color in the leaves, the color starts to fade. When that color fades, the leaves turn into the "fall colors" we see each year. Those can be red, brown, yellow, orange and brownish.

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Leaves get less light when the season changes to fall. This causes them to stop making food in order to get ready for the winter. The green color in a leaf comes from something called chlorophyll, which starts to fade when food production stops. When the green color fades, (chlorophyll) they turn into red, yellow, orange, and tan colors.

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3rd grade, aligning with Louisiana State Standards

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Hereditary: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

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Hereditary: Inheritance and Variation of Traits

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3-LS3-2
"Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment."
Student(s) will construct explanations (science) and design solutions (engineering) in 3-5 builds on K-2 experiences and progresses to the use of evidence in constructing explanations that specify variables that describe and predict phenomena and in designing multiple solutions to design problems.
Use evidence (e.g., measurements, observations, patterns) to construct or support an explanation or design a solution to a problem

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I contacted my dad, John Hamilton, because he is a forester and professional with trees and leaves. I just asked for a small explanation, and he was able to give me that!