After reading a story about leaves, the students started to notice a tree outside the classroom window. They watched each day as the leaves slowly began to change color. What makes a leaf change colors? Annika piped up, "It photosynthesis!"
We started talking about chlorophyll and how it gives the leaf the green color. Annika did research with Ms. Robin on the computer and they have begun a science experiment to remove the chlorophyll from the leaf so we can see all of the colors in the leaf.
We looked at a few leaves and saw all these lines in each of the leaves. So, the children decided to draw leaves with the veins while in art class.
Some leaves had their spring time color,
while others had all the beauty of fall. 
But regardless of color, each vein seemed to have all of these lines. What were they called?
The students learned that the big line in the middle of the leaf is called the midrib. The smaller lines are the veins that carry nutrients. What kind of nutrients? "Water," Sophia quickly shared.
The students brought in all types of leaves to look at.
They quickly decided to make clay models of their leaves, carefully placing each "vein."
Big leaves...
Small leaves...
Wide leaves...
They all made leaves different types of leaves.
We found plenty of leaves and in all shapes and sizes.
We used this chart to compare our leaves to find out what type of leaf we found. We even labeled the leaves based on their shapes.
We started to noticed that the veins looked different on the various types of leaves.
We soon found out that leaves with a cluster of veins are called dicot leaves.
And leaves with straight veins are called monocot.
We used our information about leaves not only in science class but also in math and writing. If you want to know anything about leaves, just ask us; we are leaf geniuses. ;-)
We started talking about chlorophyll and how it gives the leaf the green color. Annika did research with Ms. Robin on the computer and they have begun a science experiment to remove the chlorophyll from the leaf so we can see all of the colors in the leaf.
We looked at a few leaves and saw all these lines in each of the leaves. So, the children decided to draw leaves with the veins while in art class.
Some leaves had their spring time color,
while others had all the beauty of fall. We used our papers to conduct math problems. We read word problems and used our math skills to find out how many leaves we drew, how many veins, and to compare leaves.
But regardless of color, each vein seemed to have all of these lines. What were they called?
The students learned that the big line in the middle of the leaf is called the midrib. The smaller lines are the veins that carry nutrients. What kind of nutrients? "Water," Sophia quickly shared.
The students brought in all types of leaves to look at.
They quickly decided to make clay models of their leaves, carefully placing each "vein."
Big leaves...
Small leaves...
Wide leaves...
They all made leaves different types of leaves.
We were so excited about the leaves, that we ventured over to the park to discover more.
We used this chart to compare our leaves to find out what type of leaf we found. We even labeled the leaves based on their shapes. 
We started to noticed that the veins looked different on the various types of leaves.
We soon found out that leaves with a cluster of veins are called dicot leaves.
And leaves with straight veins are called monocot.
We used our information about leaves not only in science class but also in math and writing. If you want to know anything about leaves, just ask us; we are leaf geniuses. ;-)
We have been focusing on many topics in science lately! We have become experts with living and non-living organisms. We are reading and writing about them everyday. 
