DID YOU KNOW?
Leaves do not fall from stems just because the leaves are dead!
WHY DO LEAVES FALL?
Deciduous trees lose their leaves in autumn. These leaves fall because the special cells attaching the leaves to a stem fall apart. This happens because these special cells produce a chemical that digests their own cell walls. This chemical starts forming in autumn when there is a decrease in sunlight. Without the cell walls to hold the cells together, they fall apart and the leaves fall.
CONCLUSION
If a stem with attached leaves is removed while the leaves are green, the special cells attaching the leaf to the stem die but do not fall apart. The special cells remain attached to the stem. Thus, the leaves do not fall from the stem.
DISCOVER FOR YOURSELF
Green leaves attached to a stem that is broken from a plant will die and turn brown. But the dead leaves do not fall off the stem. Try it. Collect stems with leaves and create a leaf arrangement. Decorate the container and place it where the leaves can be observed but not disturbed for 3 or more weeks.
Advanced Learners: Research These Words
- abscission layer
- petiole
You can find more seasonal science activities in Janice VanCleave's Science Around the Year(Wiley, 2000).
Have a science question you need answered? Leave a comment and our new science expert, Janice VanCleave, will come to the rescue!
Janice VanCleave is the author of fifty-two science experiment books for kids with fifteen foreign translations. Children and educators around the world use her books to explore the world of science. And now Homeschool Bliss readers can too!
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Thank you for the explanation of why leaves fall off the trees. I had always thought that they died.
I have used Janice Van Cleave's books for years to find new educational ways to teach science with ordinary objects. They are great for homeschoolers as well as classrooms.
What an excellent and inexpensive science project. You have made the explanation easy and the project will be something that we will be able to do without going outside our own yard. Thank you for posting these!