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Alexandra Russell Professor Smolleck EDUC 344 17 October 2012 Why do leaves change colors in autumn? Grade: 3 I. Academic Standards and Objectives a. National Standards i. Science as Inquiry Content Standard A ii. Life Science Content Standard C iii. Science in Personal and Social Perspectives Content Standard F b. PA Academic Standards for Science and Technology i. 3.1 Unifying Themes 1. A. Know that natural and human-made objects are made up of parts ii. 3.2 Inquiry and Design 1. A. Identify and use the nature of scientific and technological knowledge 2. C. Recognize and use the elements of scientific inquiry to solve problems iii. 3.3 Biological Sciences 1. A. Know the similarities and differences of living things 2. B. Know that living things are made up of parts that have specific functions 3. D. Identify changes in living things over time c. Enduring Understandings i. In a leaf, there are four main pigments, chlorophyll b, chlorophyll a, xanthophyll, and carotene. These pigments are green, blue, yellow, and orange in color, respectively. The leaf is made up of mostly chlorophyll, which plants produce during photosynthesis, which is why they appear to green to us. In autumn, there is not enough light for photosynthesis, so plants live off food they stored in the summer as their food-making factories shut down. The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves and the yellow and orange pigments from the xanthophyll and carotene that were hidden by the chlorophyll in the summer begin to show. d. Essential Questions i. Why are leaves green? ii. Why arent leaves green in autumn? e. Performance Standards i. Students will know 1. Students know how photosynthesis works in plants, why plants photosynthesize, and what chlorophyll is and the role it plays in photosynthesis. As a result of this lesson, students should

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understand why leaves are not green all year-round and instead, why they turn yellow and orange. ii. Students will be able to design an experiment that allows them to break down the pigments in a leaf. They should be able to make connections from the results of this experiment to the colors of leaves in the fall i.e. they turn orange and yellow because the leaves stop making chlorophyll in the fall and winter. And students will be able to formulate further question that they can investigate such as why are some leaves red? or does water allow for all of the pigments in a leaf to be seen? Identifying Assessment a. Pre-Assessment: As a class, we will begin a KLEW chart to recall information learned from previous classes about photosynthesis and chlorophyll b. Formative: The L and E pieces of the KLEW chart will be filled in after the first half of the lab, and I will rotate between the groups to make sure everyone understands the experiments by asking questions to help them think deeper about their findings and connect them to their knowledge of photosynthesis. c. Summative: A whole-class conversation will be had in which each group will be expected to share their findings and predictions as to why they received the results they did and what it means in terms of answering the underlying question: why do leaves change colors in the fall? The discussion will be enriched with teacher questioning and guidance to make sure the students understand why their results explain this phenomenon. d. Adaptations for Special Needs Students: i. Students who are slow workers will benefit from this experiment because it builds off of prior knowledge so it will hopefully be easier for them to make connections since they are not working from scratch with a new topic, but building on knowledge with a hands-on example. Working in groups will also help students who are slower to comprehend because their group members will be able to explain to them anything they may not understand when the teacher is not around to explain concepts to them. ii. Students who work faster will be able to perform the experiment with multiple leaves. They can verify their findings with multiple trials in order to ensure that all four pigments are noticed. Identifying lesson activities a. Materials i. Various types and colors of leaves, test tubes with rubber tops, tacks, filter paper, black marker, quarters, different liquids to experiment with, such as vinegar and vegetable oil. b. Procedures i. Engage: 1, 2, 3 1. Draw a KLEW chart on the board and fill out the K section by asking for students to contribute in order to determine what they already know and have learned about photosynthesis from previous classes.

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2. Demonstrate to students what they will be doing with a leaf by performing the experiment with a black magic marker (without telling them that this is what they will later be doing) 3. Draw a black line across the bottom of a strip of filter paper 4. Fill the bottom of a test tube with water 5. Pin the paper to the rubber top of the test tube using a tack 6. Put the strip of paper into the test tube making sure the black line does not touch the water 7. Watch the blue and purple colors spread out along the length of the strip 8. Discuss what this spread of colors shows (that black is made up of blue and purple pigments) Explore: 1, 5 1. Hand out materials used in previous experiment to students as well as green leaves 2. Ask students how they will get the green pigment from the leaf onto the filter paper. If needed, guide them by suggesting they rub it on somehow 3. Hand out quarters and have students perform the filter paper experiment described above with the leaf pigment that is rubbed onto the filter paper by putting the leaf on top of it and rubbing back and forth in a horizontal line with a quarter. Explain: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 1. Have students share their findings in order to fill in the L and E sections of the KLEW chart. Ideas that should come up are that the leaf pigment separated into four colors. It should be explained or looked up by a student that these four colors represent the four different pigments that are present in a green leaf. It should also be brought up that the green chlorophyll is the most dominant pigment which is why the leaves look green. Elaborate: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 1. Have students perform the same activity with red and yellow leaves. 2. Come back to the KLEW chart in order to figure out why leaves change colors in the fall. (The chlorophyll is no longer present because there is not enough sunlight for the plants to perform photosynthesis, allowing the yellow and orange pigments to show through) Evaluate: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 1. Brainstorm what students would still like to know about why leaves change color in the W section of the KLEW chart. For example, what about red leaves? Or do all green leaves contain the same pigment? What about leaves from a bush or a flower instead of a tree? Is water the best liquid to bring out all the pigments? 2. Allow students to perform experiments of their choosing provided materials are available

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3. Have students share their extended findings with the class.