Week 1, Day 1: Introduction / Begin Home Inquiry (45 min.)

Read through the lesson, but use the Fall Slumbers--Seasonal Changes primary packet (see Ready to Print.) in lieu of the pages below. For primary teachers this activity will take place at school (rather than as a home activity). The class will identify a leaf to observe together and complete observations twice each week for three weeks. See Put It All Together at the end of this lesson for additional instructions.

• Introduce Fall Slumbers to your students. This activity challenges you to:
  • hypothesize about the factors which contribute to leaves falling from trees in autumn
  • observe leaf changes (i.e., color, moisture, length, etc.)
  • use observations to hypothesize or predict when a leaf you identify will fall from its tree.
  • understand that trees adapt to changes in temperature, light, and moisture by shedding their leaves.
• Tell students what behaviors you expect of them before, during, and after the lesson.
  • scientific thinking
  • respectful listening
  • speaking in appropriate voices
  • participating
• Explain how this activity is grouped:
  • introduction
  • home inquiry
  • class discussion

• Share information on "Water" from the Background page.
• Check first observations.  Share examples of high quality observations with the class. Note: An opaque projector (Opa-scope) is an easy way to share student work if available.
• Distribute a new Fall Slumbers Data Sheet.
• Assign second home observation.

• Share information on "Sunlight" from the Background page.
• Check second home observation. Share examples of high quality observations with the class.
• Distribute two Fall Slumbers Data Sheets for the week.
• Remind students to make revised hypotheses. If a student's leaf has fallen off, he/she should continue observing it. If a fallen leaf cannot be found, the student should tag a fallen leaf from the same tree and continue observing it.
• Complete third and fourth home observations.

• Share information on "Temperature" from the Background page.
• Check Week 2 observations. Share examples of high quality observations with the class.
• Distribute two Fall Slumbers Data Sheets for the week.
• Remind students to make revised hypotheses. If a student's leaf has fallen off, he/she should continue observing it. If a fallen leaf cannot be found, the student should tag a fallen leaf from the same tree and continue observing it.
• Complete fifth and sixth home observations.

Week 4, Day 1: Check Home Observations and Final Project (45 min.)

Get Ready...

• Hint: When making a flipbook, fan out the pages slightly before stapling. This will make it easier to flip through. (future photo)

Week 4, Day 2: PutItAllTogether (45 min.)

Read Why Do Leaves Change Color and Summarize the Main Points. Use the Fall Slumbers--Seasonal Changes primary packet as an Evaluation tool.

• Read Why Do Leaves Change Color? (or a similar picture book about seasonal change) and discuss. To maximize retention of the key points, discuss the Fall Slumbers Summary Paragraph, then have students copy it into their science spirals.
• Summarize the Main Points
  • Changes in light and temperature signal trees to lose their leaves.
• Trees lose their leaves to save water over the colder months.
• It is difficult to predict exactly when a leaf will fall from a tree, but in Ohio most trees lose their leaves between mid-October and the end of November.
• Complete the "Make Some Sense of It" section of the Thinksheet.
• Compliment students for appropriate behaviors during the lesson.
• Evaluation
• Formative: Weekly checks of student observations
• Summative: Proficiency Assessment (See Ready to Print.)

• Check out Related Resources.
• Read The Fall of Freddie the Leaf (see Related Resources) and have students create stories from the perspective of a leaf.
• Since this is the time of year when trees are ending photosynthesis, model the process of photosynthesis through drawing and discussion. Note: This is a directed activity whereby the teacher models the process on an overhead projector or chart paper as the students complete the activity in their science spirals.
  • Direct students to open their science spirals to a new page (or provide a sheet of paper) and title the assignment Photosynthesis.
  • Draw a horizontal line across the page.
  • Draw a tree and a cloud.
  • The water cycle.
    • Draw the water falling from the cloud (precipitation).
    • Show the water collecting on the ground (collection).
    • Put black dots on the water in the soil and tree to represent nutrients collected in the soil (percolation) and taken in by the tree's roots.
    • Draw a large leaf in the tree's canopy to represent all leaves on the tree. Point out that the tree's leaves are the food factory for the tree.
    • Show the water traveling through this leaf (transpiration), then back to the clouds (evaporation and condensation).
  • Energy
    • Add the sun.
    • Show energy traveling to the trees leaves.
    • Discuss how energy powers the process of photosynthesis which allows trees to live and grow.
    • Show energy leaving the tree as heat. Remind students that energy cannot be created or destroyed and sooner or later leaves the tree.
  • Air
    • Draw a person and another animal of your choice (bunny).
    • Show carbon dioxide leaving animals and cycling to plants (the tree).
    • Show oxygen leaving plants and cycling to animals
  • Define photosynthesis and write its meaning at the bottom of the page. Note: photo = light, synthesis = to make (food)
  • Allow time for students to write what they learned from this activity in their spirals.
  • Optional: Have students add color to finish the drawing.
• Give students the choice of drawing or photographing their leaves as they change each week.