Cool Science- Lesson 2 – Where do leaves get their colours

Some trees stay green the whole year, while others lose their leaves in the fall and winter and again grow new leaves in the spring and summer. If you have seen trees lose their leaves in the fall, you may have noticed that the leaves turn green to yellow, red or orange before eventually falling to the ground.

Question?

Where do leaves get their colours?

Source

What we need for the experiment – (Parents ensure to assist the kids)

· 4-5 Spinach Leaves

· 1 Drinking glass

· Spoon · Nail polish remover

· Coffee filter

· Scissors

· Tape

· Pencil

Step by Step

1. Tear the leaves into small pieces

2. Place the pieces into the bottom of the glass and mash them together with a spoon.

3. Add a few teaspoons of nail polish remover to the leaf mush. Wait until the leaves settle at the bottom of the nail polish remover. If the remover does not cover all the leaves, add enough so that they are totally covered.

4. Cut a rectangle from the coffee filter. It should be slightly narrower than the glass.

5. Tape the rectangle to the pencil and, when the leaves are settled, place the pencil across the top of the glass so that the coffee filter resets in the nail polish remover without touching the leaves.

6. Let the glass sit for several hours.

What’s happening?

You should see many colours work their way up the coffee filter. The green you can see comes from the chemical that makes leaves green – CHLOROPHYLL. But you should also see other colours, like red, yellow and orange. These come from different chemicals that are also found in green leaves. During the spring and summer, PHOTOSYNTHESIS produces so much chlorophyll you can see only the green colours in the leaves. But as the days get shorter, less chlorophyll is produced and the green fades away so that you can finally see the other colours. When the green is gone, the leaf is not far from falling to the ground. Reference: The Everything Kids' science experiments book

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