ALL THE THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH A LEAF
You don’t need any fancy tools or to be in a special place to be a scientific investigator! All you’ll need are a pencil, a piece of paper, a cup of water, and a leaf (well a little more than that, but you get the gist).
I notice, I wonder, It reminds me of ...
This is great opportunity to practice our observation skills!
This is great opportunity to practice our observation skills!
What you’ll need:
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What you’ll do:
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How do plants release oxygen? (part 1)
Let’s start an experiment to see how leaves exchange gasses! This takes a while, so we’ll start it now and continue it later.
Let’s start an experiment to see how leaves exchange gasses! This takes a while, so we’ll start it now and continue it later.
What you’ll need:
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What you’ll do:
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How can I tell plants apart?
Try it yourself! Look in your field guide to see if you can recognize each of the leaf patterns, then (with parent permission), go outside or look at your notes and see if you can identify the leaf arrangement of the plant you observed earlier.
Why do leaves change color?
Watch this video to learn more about this fantastical foliage!
Watch this video to learn more about this fantastical foliage!
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The short answer is that leaves, like plants and animals and all the other organisms in an environment, serve a purpose. Leaves make food for the plant through photosynthesis. In the regions of the northern and southern hemispheres that sit away from the equator, where winter brings less sunlight, it’s not “worth it” to the plants to lose water and resources to leaves that can’t do their jobs. The tree or plant sends hormones (chemical signals) to drop its leaves and get rid of all that dead weight, literally!
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Leaf Scavenger Hunt
Even if it’s not fall, there’s so many colors and shapes in nature! Take at least 10 minutes and use the color wheel, green swatches, or the shape page and see what you can find! Stumped looking just at leaves? Try trees, flowers, nuts, seeds, and berries too!
If you need some inspiration, check out the Leaf Scavenger Hunt slideshow below!
Even if it’s not fall, there’s so many colors and shapes in nature! Take at least 10 minutes and use the color wheel, green swatches, or the shape page and see what you can find! Stumped looking just at leaves? Try trees, flowers, nuts, seeds, and berries too!
If you need some inspiration, check out the Leaf Scavenger Hunt slideshow below!
How can I remember which plant I observed?
Your observation notes are great for remembering details about your plant, but one way to “copy” your plant onto your page is to do a rubbing. Check out this activity to do it for yourself!
Your observation notes are great for remembering details about your plant, but one way to “copy” your plant onto your page is to do a rubbing. Check out this activity to do it for yourself!
Like any good scientist, you should always label your drawings (that’s what makes it a piece of science instead of a piece of art!) Join Treble as she talks about leaf shapes and shows you her leaf rubbing!
How do plants release oxygen? (part 2)
Let’s come back to the experiment we started earlier! By now, you should notice bubbles around your leaf. Watch Treble as she explains why:
Can my leaf be used for anything else?
Short answer yes! The end of our leaves’ journey will be a scientific piece of art! This is how countless botanists and biologists have preserved plants and flowers for hundreds of years! It’s also how the native people of Japan and even the Cherokee decorated fabric and clothing.
Short answer yes! The end of our leaves’ journey will be a scientific piece of art! This is how countless botanists and biologists have preserved plants and flowers for hundreds of years! It’s also how the native people of Japan and even the Cherokee decorated fabric and clothing.
What you’ll need:
- Your leaf (dried off from the water)
- A piece of paper (even better if it’d recycled, like a paper grocery bag!)
- Something to pound with (a hammer, a large rock, a brick, a wooden block, your feet in hard-bottomed shoes)
- A hard surface (A paperback book on a hard surface is the best surface, but you only need a hard surface. Outside on the concrete or kitchen floors are usually good places, but ask an adult before you start pounding inside!)
- Fold your piece of paper in half vertically (hamburger style), then open it up
- On a hard surface that is safe to pound on (ask a grown up for permission!), lay your paper down.
- On one half of the paper, lay your leaf down
- Fold the other half of the paper over the leaf
- Pound firmly all over the paper, you’ll start to see green and wetness on the back side. Open the paper periodically to see how the print is coming, pound until the leaf has transferred its image or until you feel like it’s done.
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Want to know why this works?
Check out this video on Chlorophyll |
Take this All About My Leaf quiz!
Other Activities & Helpful Resources: