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Fabulous Fall Q&A For Kids! |
Autumn is a season full of colorful fun and great questions about what happens in our wonderful world as we prepare for winter! Use these read-aloud questions and answers with your young kids to learn all about it!
Why do leaves change color in fall?
The reason trees have green leaves is because they contain a special chemical called chlorophyll, which allows them to use water, light from the sun, and carbon dioxide in the air to create food!
However, in winter there isn’t enough sunlight or water for most trees and plants to continue using their chlorophyll to make food. In order to prevent themselves from being hungry, these trees and plants make extra food for themselves during the sunny summer!
As the days get shorter in fall, trees and other plants get ready for winter and stop making food, which means they no longer need all of that green-colored chlorophyll. And, when the green chlorophyll disappears, we’re left with the other colors of the leaves that the green had overpowered all summer long: Beautiful reds, oranges, yellows, and even purples!!
You probably already know that all plants begin as seeds, and then grow bigger over time. Plants grow best when they can have the right conditions like temperature and rain, especially when it comes to plants that are food. In most places, the first crops (food being grown) are planted in spring and continue into summer and fall. – A harvest refers to the time when ripened crops are gathered! A harvest can also refer to the group of gathered crops themselves.
Since very few edible things are able to grow in the winter climate of most places, having a big harvest by the end of the fall is very important! Today, we have things like refrigerators, canned foods, and products shipped from places with different growing seasons, which all make it easier for us to have food to eat through winter. But, there was a time when having enough food to last all winter relied on having a successful harvest of crops in the fall! Even though we may not think of it as often, a good harvest is still as important as ever – the food from your grocery store, farmer’s market, and backyard garden couldn’t exist without it!
Because birds need a lot of food to sustain themselves, many birds migrate, or “fly south,” when winter is coming in order to move from regions where winter will mean scarce food to places where they’ll be able to find plenty to eat!
In order to know which way to go, birds use a variety of techniques and hints. Some birds use the position of the sun (which always rises in the east and sets in the west) or the position of the stars to help them get oriented. Others rely on big landmarks down on the ground like lakes, rivers, or mountains that they can easily spot from up in the sky and which help them know which way they’re headed. Some birds have also been shown to have a special type of built-in “compass” that researchers believe allows a bird to determine north and south! – FLY ON!
How did pumpkins get their name?
When there’s a chill in the air, pumpkins start appearing on tabletops and windowsills! How did this big yummy gourd get its name?
The pumpkin was first named by people in the country of Greece. They called this orange edible a “pepon,” which means “large melon.” Can you see how pumpkins might have reminded people of large ribbed melons with orange coloring on the outside or inside?
The French then changed the name to “pompon,” and the English made the change to “pumpion.” Knowing that, it’s not hard to see how American colonists then called it “pumpkin,” a name we still enjoy today, especially during the fall when pumpkins are celebrated, decorated, and happily displayed!
Why are there some trees that don’t lose their leaves in fall?
In places with cold weather, most of the trees slowly but surely lose their leaves as fall turns to winter. But even in these places, there are some that stay green and leafy! Why don’t they lose their leaves too??
These special trees, which include pines, cedars, spruces, and firs, are called evergreen trees. Their leaves are able to stay on the branches in the winter because they have special protection from the cold!
Often thin like needles, evergreen leaves are covered with a thick wax, and their insides hold materials that help them not to freeze. There’s no need for evergreens to shed their leaves, because these leaves are strong enough to survive the chill of winter. Some may even continue to make food at a slower pace during this cold time!
Why do squirrels collect nuts?
Lots of animals do special things in the fall to get ready for the cold weather ahead. Have you ever seen a squirrel in a park or a forest, running around with acorns and burying or collecting them? The reason why squirrels collect nuts is to prepare for winter, when it becomes harder for them to find food!
Because nuts and seeds are not readily available in winter, squirrels spend a lot of time in the fall collecting them to prepare! In the middle of winter, when there aren’t new nuts or seeds falling from the trees, squirrels can rely on their storage for food to eat!
Another cool benefit is that because squirrels bury many nuts but usually don’t retrieve all of them, the ones that stay buried in the ground sprout into new trees! – Awesome!!
The above answers were written by Mya Kagan and Kate Simmons. For more on these topics and endless others, just Browse or Search!