For Educators

• High School
• Middle School
• Upper Elementary
• PreK-2nd Grade
• Types of Scientists
• Science Hour
• Experimental Forest and Range Material
• Learning Modules
• Smokey Bear Resources 
• Woodsy Owl Resources
• FS NatureLIVE
• Video Resources
• Coloring Book Pages
• GLOBE Connections

Order Products

• Create Account
• All Editions
• Middle & High School
• Upper Elementary
• PreK - 2nd Grade
• Scientist Cards

Are You Red-dy to Change? Learning What Things Affect Leaf Color Change

* Note: All editions of the Natural Inquirer starting with Volume 5 and including future editions require the newest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 in order to be downloaded. We have upgraded in order to ensure greater accessibility to PDF files. Please click on the following link if you need to upgrade your Adobe Acrobat reader: Upgrade now to Adobe Reader 6.0. It is a free upgrade.

Leaves change color in the fall. Cooler temperatures in the fall cause the chlorophyll in leaves to break down. When chlorophyll, which is green, begins to break down in leaves, the yellow or red color becomes more visible. In this study, the scientists wanted to know if air temperature, the length of daylight, or the chemicals in the leaves was more likely to result in leaf color change in sugar maple trees.

Welcome to the Northern States edition of Investi-gator!

Crossword Puzzle

Word Searches

Note to Educators

Journal Lesson Plan

Reflection Section Answer Guide

Education Standards Correlations

• Environmental Education for Kids--Leaves

  For more information visit http://dnr.wi.gov/org/caer/ce/eek/veg/trees/treestruecolor.htm

• Maine's Fall Foliage Video

  For more information visit http://www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/projects/fall_foliage/index.shtml

• National Climatic Data Center

  For more information visit http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/news/new-vegetation-climate-data-record-0

• Nitrogen Cycle for Kids

  For more information visit http://www.eo.ucar.edu/kids/green/cycles7.htm

• Science News for Kids--A Change in Leaf Color Article

  For more information visit https://student.societyforscience.org/article/change-leaf-color

• What Experimental Branch Cooling Tells Us About the Beautiful Reds of Fall

  Paul Schaberg and his colleagues at the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources and USDA Forest Service recently published a study in the Canadian Journal of Forest Research. Below, Paul describes the role temperature has in turning the leaves of sugar maple trees red.

  For more information visit http://www.cdnsciencepub.com/blog/what-experimental-branch-cooling-tells-us-about-the-beautiful-reds-of-fall.aspx

• Ms. Murakami
• Dr. Schaberg
• Mr. Shane
• Dr. van den Berg

• Earth Science
• Life Science
• People and Science

• Forest and Grassland Use (Educators)
• Growing and Using Trees and Other Plants (Students)
• The Value of Forests and Grasslands (Educators)

• Northern

• Characteristics of Scientists

• Change
• Trees

• Northern Research Station

• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry (A)
• Populations and ecosystems (C)
• Populations, resources and environments (F)
• Science as a human endeavor (G)
• Understandings about scientific inquiry (A)