Leaves

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 ...

What you’ll need:

A plant to observe (if you can’t go outside to see one, check out this page on the Oregon Grape from the Portland Nursery)
The I notice / I wonder / It reminds me of Worksheet or a blank piece of paper in your field journal
A pencil or writing utensil

What you’ll do:

Spend five minutes and write down everything you notice about your plant in your field journal. Stumped? Try answering these questions:
1. What shape are the leaves? How are they different or similar to other leaves you know or have seen? (Draw them!)
2. How do the leaves connect to the plant? What does the stem look like? Draw the stem with leaves on it.
3. How big is the plant? Measure it (measure the total height, the leaf size, or flower size)!
4. What color is it? Are the stems different colors?
5. Are there berries or flowers? What colors are they?
Take a minute and write down any questions you have after observing. It could be about why the plant is the way it is, how it grew there, or something else.
After looking at the drawing you made and the notes you took, does this plant remind you of anything? Write it down.
Ask an adult if the plant is safe to touch and healthy enough to take leaves from, if it is, carefully pluck or cut a leaf or two off the plant and take it with you.

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.

What you’ll need:

Your fresh leaf
A cup or container of warm water (just as hot as the tap is, will be fine)
A rock, penny, magnet, paperclip, or other small object to hold the leaf under the water

What you’ll do:

Place the leaf in the container of water and place the object on top
Move the container to a sunny spot by a window or outside
Leave your leaf there for at least an hour
Continue to the next part of the lesson, we’ll come back to this experiment later

How can I tell plants apart?

Leaf arrangement video

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 answer the question about this fantastical foliage!

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!

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!

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:

Leaf experiment video

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!

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!

Leaf Shape Video

Palmate Example

Pinnate Example

Needle Examples

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.

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!)

What you’ll do:

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.