What Is Nature Study?

what is nature study?

Nature study is the practice of observing and learning about the natural world in a relaxed, informal way. 

It’s about stepping outside - whether into your garden, a local park, or a nearby greenspace- and noticing the plants, animals, weather and landscapes around you. 

Rooted in curiosity and personal connection, nature study is often used in homeschooling and Charlotte Mason-style education. But it is beneficial for anyone wanting to build a closer relationship with the natural world.

A brief history of nature study

The concept of nature study became popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as an educational movement. 

Charlotte Mason, a British educator, emphasised nature study as a vital part of a child’s development, advocating for regular time outdoors and direct observation rather than textbook memorisation. 

While in the United States, educators like Anna Botsford Comstock also championed nature study as a way to foster a love for science and life itself.

Why is nature study important?

Nature study is more than just a walk around the park. It provides a wide range of benefits for both children and adults:

  • Improves observation skills: By paying close attention to details in nature, learners become more mindful and aware.
  • Encourages curiosity and critical thinking: Asking why and how about the natural world leads to deeper learning.
  • Supports mental health: Time in nature reduces stress, boosts mood and improves focus.
  • Enhances science education: Nature study lays a strong foundation for understanding biology, ecology and environmental science.
  • Fosters a love of the outdoors: Regular exposure to nature builds appreciation and stewardship for the environment.

What does nature study look like?

Nature study can be as simple or as structured as you like. Common elements include: 

  • Nature walks: Go for a walk and notice what is blooming, chirping or changing with the seasons.
  • Journaling: Keep a nature notebook to draw, label or right about your observations.
  • Field guides: Use books or apps to identify birds, insects, trees and other wildlife.
  • Sketching: Drawing what you see encourages careful observation.
  • Questions and research: Follow up your observations with library books, documentaries or online research.

You don’t need to be a science expert to enjoy nature study - you just need a willingness to notice and wonder.

Who can do nature study?

Everyone. Nature study is for people of all ages, backgrounds and educational styles. Although, it is particularly popular among:

  • Homeschooling families
  • Outdoor educators
  • Parents and children seeking screen-free activities
  • Adults looking to reconnect with nature

Whether you live in the countryside or a city apartment, there are always ways to observe and appreciate nature - even if it is just watching ants on a path or clouds in the sky.

How to get started with nature study

  1. Start small: Choose a tree, plant or patch of lawn to observe regularly.
  2. Keep a notebook: Record what you see, hear, smell or feel.
  3. Be consistent: Make it a daily or weekly habit.
  4. Use tools: A magnifying glass or binoculars can enhance your observations
  5. Stay curious: Ask questions and look up answers.

Final thoughts and reflection

So, what is nature study? It is a simple yet profound way to connect with the world around you. 

It is not about having the right tools or knowledge - it is about slowing down, paying attention and allowing nature to teach you in its own time. 

Whether you are 5 or 95, there is always something new to discover outside your door. 

If you are keen to have a go, why not check out our resources. We love making nature study fun and easy for children, parents and teachers.

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Autumn Trees Nature Study Ideas

autumn trees nature study ideas

Autumn trees nature study ideas

Hello! In this tutorial, I thought it would be nice to share some nice autumn trees nature study ideas to help you learn about and deepen your connection to nature this season.  Are you ready? Lets get started!

Here are your quick links:

Autumn leaves nature study

Have you ever thought about why leaves change colour or why they fall in the autumn? It is all down to photosynthesis - or rather, the lack of photosynthesis. because of the cooler temperatures, shortening days and weakening sunlight.

You may be suprised to find out that leaves contain their bright yellow, orange, red and brown pigments all year round. Yep... it is just that you don't notice the other colours while their green pigment is dominant during the summer months.

So, the next time you are out on an autumn nature walk, here are some tree leaf nature study ideas to ponder:

  •  Notice the colours in the trees. Do different species turn different colours? Why do you think that is?
  • Can you find out which pigments make up the colours in a multicoloured leaf?
  • Do all of the leaves on a single tree change colour and fall at the same time, or does one side change colour or fall off first - and why do you think that is?
  • What happens when a leaf falls from the tree? Does it leave a scar and if so, what does that scar look like (and is it the same shape on all the different trees?)
  • Lastly, why not see if you can identify any of the trees just by their leaves.

Useful resources for this section:

Fruits and berries nature study

This season is also a great time to study our beautifully jewel-like wild fruits and berries, which you can find not only on our shrubs and trees, but also on climbers, creepers and herby plants.
 
Producing fruits and berries is one of the methods that trees use to help them spread their seeds and produce offspring. They appear because of fertilisation of the trees' flowers by butterflies and bees during the spring and summer months.
 

So, the next time you are out on an autumn nature walk, keep your eyes open and see if you can spot any autumn berries. When you do, think about:

  • How berries develop after fertilisation
  • Why berries are different colours and the names of their pigments
  • Why berries change colour as they mature and ripen
  • How berries help the trees reproduce and make new trees
  • If different birds prefer different berries - and why you think this is
  • How berries might be useful to other wildlife too
  • Can you identify any trees just by their berries?

Useful resources for this section:

Nuts and seeds nature study

Autumn is also the season to look for our wild nuts and tree seeds. Especially as they mature, ripen and begin to fall from the trees, which makes them easier for us to find, handle and examine.
 
Unlike fruits and berries, many of our tree seeds developed following wind fertilisation of the trees catkins. Although, some also require fertilisation by butterflies, hoverflies and bees.
 

So, as you are out and about, consider these questions:

  • Why do some seeds have wings and how might this be useful?
  • Why are nuts so tough and encased in hard or spiky shells or cases?
  • If they do develop in spiky cases, why is it helpful for them to split open as the nuts fall (rather than before)?
  • What exactly is the difference between nuts and seeds?
  • How do animals like squirrels help trees produce more trees?
  • Can you identify any trees just by looking at their nuts and seeds?

Useful resources for this section:

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Well, there we go! I hope you enjoyed these autumn trees nature study ideas? If you would love to recieve updates about new blog posts and nature study tutorials, don't forget to sign up below and subscribe to My Nature Nook newsletter x

Spring Nature Study Ideas

spring nature study ideas

Spring Nature Study Ideas

Spring is a special time for nature study, due to the unique phases of growth and development occuring in this season. The buds on the trees, dormant through the winter, swell, grow and burst. We can observe the change and maturing of catkins and blossom. Flowers emerge providing splashes of colour to delight the senses. Birds begin their dawn chorus and can be easily seen flitting through the trees. And of course, babies of all shapes and sizes can be found skipping and playing in the meadows, woods, ponds and riverbanks.
 
So, what sort of projects can you do as part of your spring nature study? Here are my favorite spring nature study ideas:
 
  • Examine buds, twigs, catkins and blossoms
  • Get to know local birds, their nests and their nest building behaviour
  • Observe flower structure, seed and seedling growth
  • Enjoy the growth and development of baby birds, insects and animals

Let's have a look at how to use these ideas...

Start a tree nature journal

Trees are a great starting point for nature journaling and spring is the perfect time to begin observing and documenting their seasonal changes and cycles. Some of the things to look out for, are:

Tree buds -  Buds are a great way to identify trees in the winter and early spring before they have come into leaf. Examine different trees and look for differences and similarities in their leaves. See if you can work out which trees they are. Then, observe how the buds grow, swell and burst into leaf over time and see if your identification was correct.

Twigs - Twigs are another way to identify winter and early spring trees and they can tell you a lot about the age, health and growth of a tree. Look for leaf scars, bud scars, direction of growth and general orientation. Take a look and decide if they slender or stubby, straight or zig-zaggy, curving upwards or pointing down or if they have spikes or thorns.

Catkins - One of our earliest visual clues to the arrival of spring, are the welcome sight of catkins. Pay attention and watch how they grow from short, stubby stumps into long, soft, dangly lambs-tail catkins. Take on in your hand and examine it. Notice its tiny details - its colours, patterns and texture and its tiny, individual flowers and dusty yellow pollen.

Blossom - Who can resist stopping to admire a dainty, puffy blossom? Notice the number and arrangement of the stamens, the shape and colours of the petals, and the colour of the anthers. See if you can identify a tree by examining its blossom.

Explore seeds, seedlings and flowers

I don't know about you, but as spring arrives, I can't wait to go out into the garden, find the first flowers and get my hands into the earth. I love handling and preparing the soil, getting to know my seeds and watching them as they grow.

Spring flowers - Take the time to notice all the wild and cultivated spring flowers in the woods, parks, lanes and gardens. How do the flowers unfurl and open? Do they open and close in bad weather or follow circadian rhythms? Are the flowers and leaves both growing at the same time or are there only flowers?

Seeds - Plan, prepare and sow your new year's vegetables, herbs and flowers. Get to know each species' seed and observe how it puts out its roots and shoots. Notice the size, shape and number or its cotolydons or first leaves. Examine its root growth, roothairs and rootlets and see how each plant matures, blossoms and  fruits over the year.

Soil - As you prepare the earth and sow your seeds, take time to really get to know the soil you are working with. Notice its content, colours, smells and textures. Get to know the creatures living in and dependent upon it.

(You can check out this nice video on spring flower identification.)

Get to know your local birds

As spring approaches, I think the songs of the dawn chorus seem louder and more melodious as your neighbourhood birds begin declaring their territoties and searching for a mate. This makes spring a great time to start listening in and getting to know your common species.

Birds - While the trees remain leafless, it is easier to spot birds nesting, roosting and singing in the trees. Listen for their songs and try to spot them, then try to work out what they are. You can do this by taking a closer look with some binoculars, or try your hand at identifying them by their songs.

Nests - Try to spot nests in the trees, too. Do different species prefer different trees? And, where abouts in the trees do they prefer to build - the top of the tree, hidden amongst the twigs or near the forks of larger branches. See if you can spot them gathering nesting material too - what are they collecting?

Birdsong - As mentioned above, spring is a great time for getting to know the orchestra that is the dawn chorus. See if you can listen in and focus in on individual songsters. Outside of the dawn chorus, listen for territorial songs - can you hear two or more birds answering and sparring with each other? See if you can spot who's singing.

Bird flight - Another aspect of birds that we often forget, is getting to know them by their flight. Because, all birds have their own characteristic flight pattern. Some flap and glide, some flap, flap, flap. Others fly on a more or less straight line, while others dip and bounce in a wave-like up-and-down motion. Next time you spot a bird flying, stop and take a look.

Look out for baby animals

Baby animals can be spotted in the distance while driving alongside fields, observed if you're quiet on nature walks, or found on our ponds and rivers. And don't forget, this includes wild animals like foxcubs and fawns, as well as domestic animals.

Tadpoles - Keep your eyes open for frogspawn if you live near a lake or pond and watch how the grow, metamorphose and develop from frogspawn to tadpoles to froglets, to frogs. If you have the facilities, you could even hatch some frogspawn at home and watch them grow before returning them to their original location.

Caterpillars - Watch out for caterpillars too, because, while we might associate them more with the summertime, there are some species which overwinter as pupae before emerging in the spring. See which plants they are seeking out and try to find out what butterfly or moth it will eventually turn into.

Ducklings, cygnets and goslings - While on the look out for frogspawn, keep your eyes and ears open to spot baby water birds hiding among the reeds and rushes. Ducklings, cygnets and goslings may be obvious, trailing behind their mothers, but other species such as moorhens and coots are a little more shy and secretive.

Lambs, calves or foals  - Finally, look out for lambs, calves and foals capering in the fields and fox cubs, leverets and fawns frolicking in the meadows. See how they interact with their mothers, with each other and with their environment. You can even observe them over time, learning about their stages of development from newborn to fully mature.

Summary

Well, there we go! A quick overview of some of my favourite spring nature study ideas. I hope you enjoyed this article and would love to hear your thoughts.

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Why do geese fly in a V shape?

why do geese fly in a v shape?

Why do geese fly in a V shape?

Hello! In this tutorial, we are going to learn all about how geese fly. Specifically, we are going to find out how and why geese fly in a 'V' shape.  Are you ready? Lets get started!

Why do geese fly in formation?

Why do geese fly in formation? Well, no body entirely knows for sure, but studies have given us some very good insights into the probable how’s and why’s. It’s pretty remarkable. It seems that geese fly in a V shape for two main reasons.

The first reason, is that flying in a v shape, helps conserve their energy - important when flying long distances. The second reason, is that flying in this shape helps all the geese in the flock keep an eye on each other, helping them stay together as they fly - and helping them do-ordinate their flying so they don’t have mid-air collisions!

How does formation flying help geese?

Let’s think about that V shape. There is one goose right at the front, leading the way, while all the other geese trail behind. This leader does all the hard work. She both leads the flock and expends the most energy, flying against wind resistance.

As she flies, she creates a little vortex of air currents behind her wings, which spiral round and round. Immediately behind her, the spiral is in the downwards position. But move a little to her side, and the spiral of air is pushing up. So, the geese behind her make use of this to help push them up through the air. The same happens for the goose flying behind this second one, and so on and so forth.

Why else is formation flying important?

Not only do the geese following behind the leader use their wing beat to lift and carry themselves forward, but each goose behind flaps its wings exactly in sync with the goose in front! This helps them make constant use of the vortex and so reduces their workload. And if they accidentally move behind the bird in front and get caught in the downwards vortex, the actually change their flap so they are flapping the wings exactly opposite to the bird in front of them. How clever!

What other benefits are there?

Apart from conserving energy, studies have shown that their are other benefits to formation flying too. While the leader of the flock is working so hard, those following behind have much slower heart rates and they flap their wings less frequently. This also true when comparing geese flying solo. Those birds flying in formation also have lower flap cycles and heart rates than than birds flying solo.

Which birds lead the formation?

The leaders seem to be those birds with the strongest flight. They are also more experienced birds - maybe the younger birds would lead the flock astray! Even so, it is very hard work and even the strongest flyer will tire eventually. So, the geese take it in turns to lead the flock, with the leader dropping back to rest, allowing the next bird to take over.

Why is one side always longer?

The pattern made when birds fly in formation as a flock, is called an echelon or skein. And a v-shaped echelon is not the only bird flight pattern. There is a J-shaped echelon too. In fact, if you observe a flock of geese flying in a V-shape, you might notice that one side of the V is actually longer than the other - this is the J shape. Again, no body quite knows for sure why more birds fly on one side than the other. Some people think it might be to do with prevailing wind directions or air currents. Others postulate that like humans, birds may be left or right handed and so prefer flying on one side. ..

Which birds fly in formation?

Geese are not the only birds to fly in a V formation. Ducks, ibis, swans, seagulls, pelicans and flamingos also fly in formation. As do some of our shore and marsh birds - we watched a flock of oyster catchers fly off in a perfect V-shaped echelon just this morning! Which birds have you seen?

Well, there we go!

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial all about geese and their amazing flight formations. How many formations can you spot flying past this autumn? Oh, and if you wanted to learn more about how to identify our most common wild geese, I have put together a handy illustrated guide in this post.

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Why Do Maple Tree Seeds Spin As They Fall?

Why do maple tree seeds spin as they fall?

In this tutorial, we will learn about why maple tree seeds spin as they fall.

Did you know that the reason they fall, is because:

  • One edge of their wing in thicker than the other
  • One side is smoother than the other
  • They have their seed at one end
  • They make mini-torpedoes
Let's find out how they all come together to make the helicopter spin.

What are maple seeds?

Before we explore how and why maple seeds spin, it will be nice to take a minute and think about what a maple seed is. A maple seed is a type of seed known as a samara, or helicopter seed - a seed that flies with wings. And, it comes from the maple tree. It is not the only type of flying tree seed, but is the one I will focus on here.

What does a maple seed look like?

If we take a closer look at a maple seed, we will start to notice some interesting features. See if you can find one to examine. When you pick it up, you should notice that it is made up of a heavy 'seed' at one end of a long, thin wing. And, if you look even closer, you should notice that one side of its wing is thicker, smoother and rounder, while the other side is thinner, rougher or jagged

Why do maple seeds spin?

If you try to balance it on your finger, you should notice that the heaviest part of the seed - the 'seed' bit, is right at one end of the seed, meaning its center of gravity is somewhere near the middle of the seed (wing). This combination of wing structure and center of gravity is what makes a maple seed spin.

If you drop your maple seed, you should notice that it always falls with the heavier 'seed' at the bottom and the lighter wing at the top. This makes sense, since the seed is their heaviest point. And if you look even more closely, you should start to notice that your seed always spins in the direction of its smoother, rounder, thicker edge. But, why?

Maple seeds make mini torpedoes!

To answer this question, some clever scientists decided to run an experiment and see if they could find out. So, they dropped their maple seeds down into oil and air, and recorded the air flow around the seeds and their movements as they fell. Their results were pretty amazing. As every seed fell, it made its own mini tornado! It is all down to three factors: gravity, drag and resistance.

Gravity always pulls the heavy end (the seed) downwards, while drag (wind resistance) is greatest on its widest area - the wing. This pushes the wing upwards, so it acts like a parachute and slows the samara’s fall. Finally, air flow over the surface of the samara changes between the rough and smooth edges of the wing - over the rough edge, there is a lot of turbulence, while the smooth, rounded edge has less resistance.

This difference in resistance, directs the flow of air above the seed, creating a spiral or vortex of air above the falling seed. This spiral of air makes the samara spin in the shape of a mini tornado  narrow end towards the seed and wide end towards the wing - spinning the seed as it falls.

But, why do seeds need to spin?

So, we now know how maple seeds spin, but have you ever wondered why they need to spin? What’s the point of spinning when they could just fall straight down, instead? It is all down to competition and survival.

Let’s recap a few maple seed facts: They have wings; they spin as they fly; their wings act as parachutes, slowing them as they fall. So, what does this mean? It means that the maple tree has evolved to help its seeds get as far away from the tree as possible.

First, by acting as a parachute, the speed at which the seed falls, is slowed down, making it stay longer in the air, giving it a longer time in the air, and a bigger gap in which to catch the wind. Then, the wings act like sails, helping the wind blow the seed further away. Lastly, spinning like a helicopter, helps the seed stay aloft even longer, giving the seed time to blow even further away.

Seeds fly for survival

But, why should this all matter? Why is blowing so far away important for the seed?  The answer is a matter of survival and evolution. If the seeds plopped straight down beneath their trees, they would end up competing for sunlight, water and minerals. There is also a risk of cross pollination. Whereas, the seeds that manage to get away and find their own space to grow, can grow stronger and bigger - because they are no longer in competition with their parents!

Summary

Well... there we go! In this lesson, we learned all about what maple seeds are and why they spin as they fall. Can you remember the tree main reasons? They are because:

  • The wing is thicker on one side than the other
  • The wing is smoother on one side than the other
  • The seed is at one end of the wing
  • They act like mini-tornadoes

We also learned about why they have been designed to spin as they fall - so they can travel away from their parent plant and give the baby trees a better chance at survival.

Spinning seeds nature study

Right! Are you ready for your spinning seed nature study?

Your task, is to go out and find some flying seeds. See if you can identify them using the free resource - and if you can, try to find seeds from more than one tree.

I would like you to:

  • Examine the seed and its wing
  • Feel the texture of the wing and how it changes in firmness arom one edge to the other
  • See where the seed is located relative to the wing and look how the wing is attached to it
  • Spin the winged seeds and see how they fall for yourself - which way to the spin as they fall?
  • Do they always spin in the same direction?
  • How many differences can you find between your seeds?
  • Do you think this changes how they spin or how far they spin?

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Why Do Trees Lose Their Leaves In The Autumn?

why do trees lose their leaves in the autumn?

Why do trees lose their leaves in the autumn?

Hello! In this tutorial, we are going to look at how and why trees shed their leaves once the autumn arrives. Are you ready? Lets get started! Here are your quick links:

 

Overview

Here is a quick overview about why trees need to shed their leaves in the autumn.
 
  • Trees shed their leaves in response to the lengthening nights and cooler days of autumn.
  • Leaf drop is triggered by chlorophyll, auxin and ethylene.
  • It starts by the growth of an abscission layer between the leaf stalk and its twig. 
  • This layer cuts the leaf off from the rest of the tree, so it no longer has food or water. It also weakens the cells in that area.
  • Eventually, the leaf attachment weakens so much, it detaches and falls from the tree.

Are you ready to learn more? Let's go!

Why do trees have leaves?

To understand why trees drop their leaves, we must first understand why trees have leaves. As we discussed in our tutorial, why leaves change colour, leaves are effectively the kitchen stoves of the tree. They capture and use solar energy to make up food for the tree. This process is called photosynthesis and happens because of  a pigment called chlorophyll in the leaves.

Chlorophyll is only found in the trees' leaves. So, the leaves have evolved to help the chlorophyll capture as much sunlight as possible, by being thin and flat. This helps provide lots of energy for the tree.

What triggers autumn leaf loss?

In the autumn, the lengthening nights mean less sunlight exposure, and less work for the chlorophyll. Producing chlorophyll takes up a lot of the tree's energy, so, it stops producing it.

The absence of chlorophyll, stimulates a hormone in the leaf, called auxin. Normally, auxin flows from the tree branches, through the twigs and out into the leaf. But, the loss of chlorophyll causes it to change direction. Now, it flows back from the leaf into the tree.

Auxin has protective properties - especially on a special layer of cells, called the abscission layer, between the leaf stem and its twig. Its absence causes this abscission layer to become sensitive to an enzyme called ethylene.

Ethylene breaks things down. It weakens the cells in the abscission layer, causing them to break and fracture. This makes the leaf weak to the point where wind, or the leaf's weight by itself, causes the leaf to detach and fall. This is called abscission. 

What is auxin?

Like insulin or adrenaline in humans, auxin is a hormone that can be found inside plants. In fact, it is a very important hormone, and is the reason why roots grow downwards and stems grow up. It also makes twigs and branches lengthen, and leaf buds expand into leaves. 

In order to nourish the growing leaves, the tree needs to get food and water to them - which it does through little vessels - just like our own arteries and veins. Auxin is responsible for growing these, too.

But, once the leaf becomes old or damaged, or when there is no more chlorophyll, the auxin stops going there. This causes the little vessels feeding the leaf to block off. It also makes the leaf stem become sensitive to another hormone - ethylene.

What is the abscission layer?

The abscission layer, or scissor layer, is the name given to a special layer of cells that grows underneath the leaf stem. The cells in this layer are tough and corky and work a bit like a scar over a wound. Protecting the tree once its leaf falls off. This tops fungi or bacteria from entering the tree.

Why do trees shed their leaves?

Okay, so now we know how leaves drop, but now we need to ask - why? Why should the tree lose its leaves? Well, if you look back at the section above, we can see that leaves have evolved to have a large surface area in order to absorb as much sunlight as possible. They are also very thin. During the spring and summer, this is great. But not in the autumn and winter.

Having a huge surface area of thin leaves, is like a ship in a storm with a huge, open sail. The leaves will catch the wind, potentially causing the branches to crack or break. They could also act like a huge umbrella, catching the weight of heavy rain or snow.

In addition, because the tree loses water through its leaves, if the ground is frozen and it cannot absorb enough water, this can cause the tree to dehydrate. So, the tree sheds its leaves through the cold, dark winter months to protect itself and stay alive. It enters a state of dormancy or hibernation and waits until spring to make new leaves.

 

Do all trees lose their leaves?

While it may look like most deciduous trees drop their leaves in the autumn, if we look closely, we will see this is not true. At least, not all trees shed their leaves at the same time.

Some trees, such as ash, do lose their leaves very quickly. But other trees, such as hornbeam and beech, hang onto them for a lot longer. These trees tend to have redder leaves in the autumn, indicating a higher sugar content. So, they may be more resilient to loss of sunlight and the cooler weather.

And while we may think that evergreen trees do not lose their leaves,  this is not quite true. They do shed their leaves too - but not always in the autumn. Coniferous leaves abscise little by little, throughout the year, instead of all in one go, like deciduous trees. So, they only appear to be green all year round.

 

Thoughts for your nature walk...

 

The next time you are out and about, pay attention to the trees. 

  • Which trees have already dropped all their leaves?
  • Which trees are still hanging on to theirs?
  • Have they dropped because of windy days?
  • Or, have they dropped by their own weight?
  • Can you see leaf scars on the ends of the twigs, where the leaves used to be?
  • Finally, did you enjoy this tutorial? If so, leave us a comment and a rating of 5 stars!

If you would like to learn more, there is a nice little video about leaf abscission here. And if you are curious about why leaves change colour, we have a little tutorial on that too.

 

Summary

Well... there we go! An easy overview about why trees shed their leaves in the autumn. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial? Let me know in the comments. Happy nature walking and see you soon!

P.S. If you enjoyed this tutorial and would like to see more, don't forget to subscribe by clicking the pink button below x

What next?

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What Makes Leaves Change Their Colour In Autumn?

why do leaves change colour

Why do leaves change colour in the autumn?

Hello! In this tutorial, we are going to look at how and why tree leaves change their colour in the autumn. We will also look at why some leaves turn yellow, while others turn orange or red. Are you ready? Lets get started!

Here are your quick links:

Why do leaves change colour?

Here is a quick over view of autumn leaves and their many colours.

  • Leaves contain several different coloured pigments - green chlorophyll, red anthocyanin, yellow xanthophyll and orange carotenoid 
  • There is so much more chlorophyll compared to the other pigments, that the leaves appear green.
  • Autumn's cold weather and reduced daylight hours prompt trees to enter a state of hibernation
  • Chlorophyll makes energy for the tree, but needs sunlight to function.
  • It also costs the tree a lot of energy to make its chlorophyll
  • So, they stop producing chlorophyll in order to save energy
  • Once the there is no more chlorophyll, we see the other pigments shine!

Are you ready to learn more? Let's go!

Why do trees have leaves?

To understand why leaves change colour, we must first understand why trees have leaves in the first place.

Leaves are basically the kitchens of plants and trees. They take the main ingredients a tree needs to live (sunlight and carbon dioxide), combines them with water and minerals (absorbed by the trees’ roots), and uses sunlight to cook them up into oxygen and sugars. These sugars can then be used as an energy source by the tree.

Why are leaves green?

In order to acquire the sunlight it needs to cook its food, trees have a special pigment (called chlorophyll) inside their leaves. Chlorophyll absorbs the sunlight and uses it as a catalyst (a helper) in this energy-making process. (This process is called photosynthesis.)

Chlorophyll is green - and there is LOTS of it in every leaf. So, most leaves look green. But, chlorophyll is not the only pigment present inside leaves.

There are actually several pigments, each with their own special function. The most important of these, are chlorophyll (green), carotenoids (orange), xanthophyll (yellow), tannins (brown) and anthocyanins (red).

But there is so much chlorophyll compared to the others, that it completely masks them to the point that we cannot see the other colours. That is, until the arrival of autumn.

What makes leaves change colour in the autumn?

As autumn sets in, the temperatures drop and the nights draw in, reducing daylight hours. This means less cooking or food-making time for the tree, which means less photosynthesis.

The amount of energy created by the chlorophyll drops significantly - even though the tree is still using up energy to make it. (This change in temperature and daylight, is called photoperiodism). It makes no sense for the tree to be wasting energy in making chlorophyll if it is not getting anything back. So, it stops making chlorophyll.

(Remember, there is more than one pigment present in tree leaves. It is just the vast quantity of chlorophyll that makes us see leaves as green. So, it makes sense that once the tree stops producing chlorophyll, we will start to see the other pigments present in the leaves.)

But even these pigments compete with each other. Remember, xanthophyll is yellow, carotenoids are orange and anthocyanins are red. So, if there are more carotenoids and xanthophyll than anthocyanins, we see the leaves as orange or yellow. But if there are more anthocyanins than carotenoids, then the leaves appear red.

How does weather affect leaf colour?

Like chlorophyll, carotenoids and anthocyanin are also dependent on temperature and daylight hours - especially anthocyanin.

So, sometimes, if the season is cold and bright, red leaves become much more vibrant (because the tree is producing lots of anthocyanin).

Whereas, if the season is cloudy and overcast, the leaves look duller and not as bright (because it is not producing as much).

Do all trees lose their leaves in the autumn?

Although photoperiodism will affect almost all trees, not all trees lose their leaves in response to it.

Conifers are called evergreens because they do not shed their leaves in the autumn (although, larch does). Whereas deciduous trees almost always shed their leaves (although, holly and holly oak are exceptions).

Also, not all deciduous trees shed their leaves at the same time. Some trees, like ash, change colour and drop their leaves really early in the season. While others, such as oak, beech, sycamore and hornbeam take time to respond and hold on to their leaves for much, much longer.

Why are autumn trees different colours?

If you look around you in the autumn, you will notice a wide array of autumn shades. Some trees are red, some are yellow, some orange and others are brown.

While the colour of each tree is dependent on the ratio of its pigments, certain trees tend to turn certain colours.

For example, hornbeam and maple often turn red, while field maple and ash are usually yellow. Hawthorn often turns to orange and oak, with its tannins, turns a tan-brown colour.

Well, there we go!

So, what makes leaves change their colour in the autumn? It is all down to cooler weather, shorter daylight hours and pigments!

Once the autumn kicks in and the days get shorter, the trees cannot justify wasting energy to produce chlorophyll, because it cannot help the tree make energy in return. So, they stop making it, allowing all the other pigments present in the leaf to step into the dimming light and shine!

If you would love to learn more, you can have a look at this BBC documentary about why leaves change colour in the autumn. You can also learn how to preserve your leaves for autumn crafts in this nature craft tutorial.

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