Grow Up Great
Notes:
This activity includes a walk outside and several hours of classroom time.
Keep the lid tight on the alcohol and the container away from the children until you are ready to use it. When you are pouring the rubbing alcohol into the jars, be sure that the children are sitting quietly and not near you.
When the jars are resting in the hot water, place the pan out of the reach of the children.
The leaves of certain types of trees change color and fall off during the fall. There are many different colors in plant leaves. When you look at a leaf, you see the result of all the colors mixing together. In the spring and summer, trees use chlorophyll to make food from sunlight. Chlorophyll gives leaves their green color. As summer progresses into fall, there is less sunlight, so the growing process slows down and the trees stop making chlorophyll. Without chlorophyll, leaves lose their green color, and the other colors that are present in the leaves (red, orange, and yellow) become visible.
These lessons are aligned with the Common Core State Standards ("CCSS"). The CCSS provide a consistent, clear understanding of the concepts and skills children are expected to learn and guide teachers to provide their students with opportunities to gain these important skills and foundational knowledge.**
The leaves of certain types of trees change color and fall off during the fall. There are many different colors in plant leaves. When you look at a leaf, you see the result of all the colors mixing together. In the spring and summer, trees use chlorophyll to make food from sunlight. Chlorophyll gives leaves their green color. As summer progresses into fall, there is less sunlight, so the growing process slows down and the trees stop making chlorophyll. Without chlorophyll, leaves lose their green color, and the other colors that are present in the leaves (red, orange, and yellow) become visible.
The experiment we performed dissolved the different colors in the leaves and allowed them to be absorbed by the coffee filter. The alcohol worked to dissolve the colors, and the heat from the water was the energy that helped the alcohol to work. The red, orange, and yellow colors in leaves break down more slowly than the green does. The fibers in the coffee filter trapped the colors as they spread up the strip of paper. The process allowed the different colors to be absorbed at different rates and caused the colors to separate.
- Closely monitor the water in the pans. When it cools, be sure to replace it with hot water.
- Green leaves from maple trees work best for this experiment, but encourage the children to collect leaves from different trees.
- A Tree is a Plant by Clyde Robert Bulla
- Be a Friend to Trees by Patricia Lauber
- Leaves by David Ezra Stein
- The Leaves on the Trees by Thom Wiley
While we believe that the books and resources recommended may be of value to you, keep in mind that these are suggestions only and you must do your own due diligence to determine whether the materials are appropriate and suitable for your use. PNC has no sponsorship or endorsement agreement with the authors or publishers of the materials listed.
There are currently no Common Core Standards for pre-k, but these lessons are aligned as closely as possible to capture the requirements and meet the goals of Common Core Standards. However, these lessons were neither reviewed or approved by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices or the Council of Chief State School Officers, which together are the owners and developers of the Common Core State Standards.
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