Autumn Season and Weather

✅ C) summer

✅ B) Leaves change colour and it gets cooler

Chromatography is a process where you separate colours. This experiment will let you separate colours from autumn leaves! An adult must help you with this experiment.

Supplies Needed:

• Rubbing alcohol
• Coffee filters
• Ovenproof jars
• Lollipop sticks
• Tape
• Scissors
• A variety of leaves
• A tool for mashing leaves (e.g., back of spoon)

Steps

1. Collect a variety of leaves, focusing on different types and colors.
2. Tear or cut the leaves into small pieces.
3. Place leaves of the same colour into individual jars.
4. Mash the leaves inside the jar to help release their pigments. The more you mash, the better the result will be.
5. Pour rubbing alcohol over the leaves until they are fully submerged.
6. With adult supervision, carefully bake the jar at 120°C for one hour.
7. Take out of the oven and allow to completely cool
8. Prepare the coffee filter strips by securing one end of a coffee filter to a lollipop stick using tape. Once the leaf mixture is cool, insert the coffee filter strip into the jar so that it touches the liquid slightly.
9. Observe as the alcohol moves up the filter paper, carrying pigments with it. Allow the paper to dry completely, noting any colour changes or patterns that emerge.
10. Once the filter paper is dry, examine the different colours on each strip.

Observations In the leaf chromatography experiment, you'll see colours move up the paper, separating into bands of green, yellow and possibly red or purple. This shows the different pigments leaves have. The way these colours spread, and form patterns, helps us understand the variety of pigments that make up the beautiful colours we see in leaves.

✅ In autumn, we often see cooler temperatures and changing leaves.

✅ Leaves change colour due to cooler temperatures and changes in daylight.

✅ September, October and November are months in the season of autumn.

✅ They gather food and, for some species, migrate to warmer climates.

• In autumn, trees prepare for winter by stopping their food-making process. This causes the green in the leaves to disappear, showing the beautiful red, orange and yellow colours!
• Many animals get ready for winter in autumn. Some, like squirrels, gather food to store for the winter. Others, like birds, migrate to warmer places. And some animals, like bears, eat extra food to prepare for hibernation, a long sleep through the winter.
• In autumn, the weather gets cooler, so we wear warmer clothes like jumpers and jackets to keep us cosy and warm.
• Harvest time is in autumn when farmers gather or pick the crops they've grown, like apples, pumpkins and corn.
• In the USA, they often refer to autumn as fall because leaves fall from the trees during this time.

Leaves change colour in autumn due to the decrease in chlorophyll production as daylight decreases and temperatures drop, revealing the other pigments present in the leaves.

In autumn, many animals prepare for winter by gathering food to store, and some migrate to warmer climates.

Autumn weather typically includes warm days and cool nights early in the season, with temperatures gradually dropping and leading to cooler days and early frosts by November.

Autumn is important for agriculture because it is the season for harvesting many crops, allowing farmers to gather the produce grown over the summer.

Autumn starts in September in the Northern Hemisphere and runs through to November.

Autumn affects the environment by initiating changes like leaf fall, which enriches the soil, and by signalling animals to prepare for winter, impacting ecosystems.

While pumpkins are harvested in autumn, they are actually planted in late spring or early summer to be ready for harvest in the autumn.

Popular autumn activities include apple picking, pumpkin carving, enjoying autumn foliage and participating in harvest festivals.

During autumn, daylight decreases as the season progresses, leading to shorter days and longer nights until the winter solstice.