Release Date: September 16-22

Especially

38-1 (89)

kids

for

and

their

families

By BETTY DEBNAM
from The Mini Page by Betty Debnam

1989 Universal Press Syndicate

Leaves

Why leaves change color

Leaves are the food factories for trees.

They use carbon dioxide, sunlight, water
and minerals from the soil to make the
tree's food and sap. Leaves give off oxygen.
This process is called photosynthesis (fohtoh -SIN -the-sis).

During the spring and summer,

the broadleaf leaves are busy food
factories.
A green-colored substance called
tuliptree
chlorophyll (KLOR-uh-fil) helps
keep the food factories running.
The leaves also have other
colors such as yellow or orange,
bu t they are hidden by the green
sugar
of the chlorophyll.
maple
In the fall, as ..the days get
shorter and the nights get cooler,
the leaves stop making food. The
chlorophyll breaks down and the
green color disappears. The other
birch
hidden colors begin to show.
A special layer of cells forms at
the base of each leafstalk.
These cells cut the tissues that
sycamore join the leaf to the tree.

Two types of leaves

In our part of the world, needle leaf and
broadleaf are the two main types of trees.

white pine

white oak

Needleleaf, or coniferous
(kahn-IF-er-ous), trees have
green needles the year-round.
These trees are also called
evergreens.
.Broadleaf, or deciduous
.(duh-SID-u-us), trees shed
their leaves in the fall.

When the English settlers first

arrived here in the early 1600s, half
of our country was covered by
forests. Today one-third of it is.
There are not as many trees in
the Great Plains states as there are in
most other states.
For example, forests take up about 89 percent
of the land area in
Maine. Forests take up
only about 4 percent
of the land area in
South Dakota.

The

rts of a leaf

veins: tubes
that carry
food and
water and
give the leaf
support.

Some leaves
have stipules
or tiny flaps,
at the base of
the stem.

blade or lamina: the

flat part of the leaf.
petiole (PET-e-ohl): the
stem, made up of
many tiny tubes. Some
carry food to the tree.
Others carry water to
the leaf.

The Mini Page thanks

the Forest Service, U.S.
Department of Agriculture, and the American Forestry Association
for help with this story.