Sunday, October 9, 2011

Fall Into Fall

We must be having an Indian Summer.  The last few days has been t-shirt and shorts weather instead of the coats and pants weather.  It has been fairly nice and the trees are in the process of getting ready for winter.  

 
So starts the botany lesson for the day:  
The green pigments (chlorophyll) are slowing down as the temperatures get cooler.  Once they stop making food they die off and then the real show starts.  Then we start to see all of the beautiful reds, yellows, purples, and oranges that the green pigments usually hide.  Soon enough, warm days and cool nights of fall will pass into winter hibernation for our trees.  After the green pigments have disappeared, the other pigments will follow suit disappear for the winter too.  But never fear, our wonderful trees will bud out in the spring for another season of wonder.

Fun family activities to do this fall:
1) Press note-worthy fall leaves between pages of a book to enjoy this winter
2) Rake up a pile of leaves and jump right in
3) Make leaf animals with paper, glue, leaves, and your imagination
4) Have fun crunching through the leaves (my kids love this one)
5) Sort the leaves by color, then count how many leaves you have
Have a lovely fall!

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