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
Fruits and berries nature study
Nuts and seeds nature study

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:

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

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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What next?

Check out these related links and resources:

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How to identify trees by their leaves

Hello! In this tutorial, we are going to learn how to identify some of our most common tree by their leaves. Specifically, we will learn how to identify leaves by their shape. Are you ready? Lets get started!

(To help make it easier for you, I have divided the leaves into groups, so you can use these quick links to jump where you need to go x)

Star-shaped leaves
Palmate leaves
Spiky leaves
Lobed or wavy leaves
Pinnate leaves
'Leaf'-shaped leaves
Round leaves

Star-shaped leaves

Norway maple

Norway maple leaves are sharp at the tips compared to field maple and sycamore.

Field maple

Field maple leaves are much rounder at the tips and smaller than Norway maple and sycamore.

Sycamore

Sycamore leaves are softer at the tips than sycamore, but sharper than field maple.

Palmate (hand-like) leaves

Horse chestnut

Horse chestnuts are the most common tree you are likely to find with characteristically hand-shaped leaves.

Spiky leaves

Holly

Holly trees have dark, shiny, very spiky leaves. Another spiky shrub (and a garden run away), is mahonia.

Lobed or wavy leaves

Oak

Oak trees have distinctively lobed leaves, often very gnarled, spreading branches - and a helpful clue - acorns!

Hawthorn

Hawthorn trees are usually a dense tangle of lichen-covered, shrubs with thorny branches.

Pinnate (or feather-like) leaves

Ash

Ash trees have thin leaflets, often more than 5 to a stem and clustered at the tips of the branches.

Elder

Elder leaves are rounder than ash and often darker and thicker. In addition, it is a more-shrub-like plant.

Rowan

Rowan trees have skinny, leaflets with saw-like edges. They also often have white lichen spots on their bark.

Leaf-shaped leaves

Beech

Beech tree leaves are quintessentially 'leaf' shaped and leathery. They are often slightly wavy around the edges.

Hornbeam

Hornbeam leaves might look like beech leaves, but they have deep valleys between their veins.

Wych elm

Wych elm leaves can be spotted by their asymmetrical leaf base and their pointy (sometimes 3 pointed) tip.

Round leaves

Aspen

Aspen leaves are rounded (sometimes slightly pointed), very delicate-looking leaves with gently-waving edges.

Hazel

Hazel leaves are larger than aspen with a marked tip. They are also narrow at the base, wider at the top.

Linden

Linden leaves look like upside down hearts, with a curved base, wide middle and widely pointed tip.

How do you identify trees by their leaves?

Sometimes (but not always) one of the easiest ways to identify a tree is by looking at its leaves. Your clues are the shape, size, margins, tips and bases and arrangement of the leaves.

This might sound like a lot of things to look at, but really, usually, you only need to focus on two things - the arrangement of the leaves and their shape. These help you to narrow the leaf down. Then, the extra details like the margins, tips and bases just provide extra clues to help you confirm what it is.

The two types of leaf arrangement

When looking at leaves, I like to start wide and then move in and the best way to start wide with leaves, is by looking at their arrangement and how they attach to the branches or stems. There are two types of leaf arrangement: simple and compound.

Simple leaves are individual leaves, each with their own special connection to the twig or tree branch. While, compound leaves are a group of leaves which join together and share a connection to the tree branch. These can be further divided into pinnate and palmate.

Pinnate-type compound leaves consist of individual leaflets that join along a main stem and attach to the branch via the main stem. While, palmate-type compound leaves are individual leaflets that radiate out and join in one central point, from which a shared stem then emerges to attach them to the tree branch.

Simple leaf

Pinnate leaf

Palmate leaf

Summary

Well... there we go! In this lesson, we met some of our most common tree leaves and learned how to identify them all. I hope you feel more confident about identifying them now?

Just remember, there are many, many different trees - all with different leaves - and I have only covered a few of them here.

Tree leaves nature study

Right! Now it is time for your tree leaves nature study.

Your task, is to go out on a nature walk and find some tree leaves.

Try and identify the leaves you find using the downloadable guide
Handle the leaves and get to know their colours, size and shape.
Notice the details of the leaves - their stems and how they attach to the leaf
Look at the arrangement of the veins running through the leaf
Run your fingers over the edge of the leaves and feel their margins
Examine the underside of the leaves for fine hairs or fuzziness
See how bouncy, crisp or delicate the leaf might be

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Meet Our Common Tree Nuts

Meet Our Wild Nuts

Hello! In this tutorial, we are going to meet some of the most common tree nuts you are likely to find on your countryside nature walk and learn how to identify them. Their names are:

Beech
Hazel
Horse chestnut
Oak
Sweet chestnut
Walnut

Are you ready to meet them? Lets get started!

Which trees have nuts and seeds?

There are many sizes and shapes of tree seeds, but usually, we only notice the larger sized seeds. In addition to the trees mentioned here, there are also nine other seed-bearing trees you may spot on your nature walks: These are ash, field maple, hornbeam, linden, London plane, Norway maple, pine, sycamore and wych elm, which you can learn more about on my tree seeds tutorial.

How to identify our most common nuts

Acorns

Acorns come in all shapes and sizes, but usually have an oval shaped seed nestled in a textured cup.

Beech nuts (mast)

Beech nuts are triangular and nestled inside a three-bladed husk, which is smooth inside and spiky outside.

Hazel (filberts)

Hazelnuts are round with a little crinkled gather at the top and sit inside a feathery, leafy husk.

Horse chestnuts (conkers)

Horse chestnuts are round, deep chestnut brown with a pale spot beneath and grow inside a tough, spiky, rounded shell.

Sweet chestnuts

Sweet chestnuts are a beautiful reddish brown, with pale tufts on top and often grow in pairs inside a spikey shell.

Walnuts

Walnuts are a light brown, crinkly nut, growing inside a tough, fibrous shell, inside a tough, apple-green outer husk.

What are nuts?

Nuts and seeds are basically the babies or offspring of parent trees.

They are produced following pollination of the trees' flowers and contain all the genetic material of the tree and inside, they have a supply of food and nutrients ready to start their journey into new trees. In fact, even their shapes are specially designed to help give the seedlings a head start in life.

Because, in order to grow up strong and healthy, trees need space to grow and access to good sunlight. So, if they fell and sprouted right under their parent, they would be competing with them for space, sun and nutrients.

In order to solve this little problem, nuts have found different ways to help themselves disperse and travel away from their parent tree.

How are nuts adapted to travel?

To help them on their journey, seeds and nuts have adapted various tricks to help them travel.

Some nuts are hard and round, like horse chestnuts. This way, when they fall, they bounce and roll away. Others make themselves tasty to wildlife like squirrels (like acorns and hazelnuts), who carry them away and even bury them in the earth.

Yet others have little pockets or air to make them bouyant so they float. Or, they have wings to fly away.

But, you may be wondering, how can they grow if they are eaten? Well... think about how many acorns the squirrels bury... and in how many places. No matter how many they eat, there will always be some left over or forgotten about. These are the nuts which grow.

How do nuts avoid being eaten?

Aside from dispering away from their parents, another problem that nuts and seeds face, is surviving long enough to mature and be ready for the seed to grow. Because, it is not good for the nuts to be eaten or carried away from the tree before they are ready. So, they have developed various tricks here too.

Look at the beech nuts, horse chestnuts and sweet chestnuts above. Can you see their spines? The spikes and spines on these nuts deter animals from picking them up or eating them until the seed inside is ready.

Once they are ready, these husky, spiky shells split open - often as the nuts hit the ground when they fall. This reveals the tasty, non-spiky nuts inside, ready for the animals to dig them out.

Some nuts use a trick of making themselves taste disgusting too. Like horse chestnuts. These contain a chemical called saponins and any animal who eats one, will be left with a horrible taste in their mouth and so learn to leave them alone.

Summary

Well, there we go! In this tutorial, we have met six of our most common tree nuts and learn how to identify them. Can you remember their names? They are:

Beech
Hazel
Horse chestnut
Oak
Sweet chestnut
Walnut

In addition to meeting these nuts, we also learned a little bit about what they are (shelter and protection for baby trees) and how even their shapes help out the little trees disperse and avoid being eaten or carried away too soon.

Wild nut nature study

Right! Are you ready for your wild nuts nature study?

Your task, is to take a nature walk and look for nuts! I want you to:

Try and identify the nuts you find
Handle the nuts and look at their shapes, weight, textures and colours
Examine their husks - examine the insides and the outsides of the husks. How do they feel? How are they different?
Think about how the shape of the nut and its husk or coating might help it travel or avoid being eaten

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How to identify our most common helicopter seeds

Identifying Helicopter Seeds

In this tutorial, we will learn about how to identify helicopter seeds.

Here in Ireland and the British Isles, you are most likely to find the following helicopter seeds:

Field maple
Norway maple
Sycamore

These three seeds may look very similar, but there are some easy ways to tell them apart. So, let's take a look and learn a bit about them.

How to identify our helicopter seeds

Field maple seeds

Field maple seeds have the greatest angle of the three and grow almost horizontally away from each other. Each seed is curved in an upward scoop from the bottom.

Norway maple seeds

Norway maple seeds also grow far apart from each other, but at a closer angle than field maple seeds. Each seed is broad at the tip and has a wavy appearance to its edges.

Sycamore seeds

Compared to field maple and Norway maple, sycamore seeds are smaller and they grow much closer together. Each seed is rounded at the tip and curves outwards at the bottom.

What are helicopter seeds?

Have you ever asked yourself, what are helicopter seeds and why do they have wings?

Well, there are two types of flying seed - parachute seeds and winged seeds. Helicopter seeds are winged seeds. Their wings are single, stiff, flat membranes, which are attached to the actual 'seed' bit and designed to help the seed catch the wind as it falls from the tree and fly away. Theis helps it move away from its parent tree so it is not competing for food, water and sunlight.

The reason they are called helicopters is because of the way they spin as they fall from the tree. But, they have other names too, including spinning jennies, whirligigs and whirlibirds. But their proper name is a samara.

Have you ever wondered why maple seeds spin as they fall ? You can find out here.

Summary

Well, I hope you have enjoyed learning all about helicopter seeds? Do you remember their names? They are:

Field maple
Norway maple
Sycamore

We also learned about why they have wings, what their wings are, and some other names for them too.

Helicopter Seed Nature Study

Now it is time for your helicopter seed nature study. Are you ready?

Your task, is to go out on a nature walk and try and find all three of the seeds we have just learnt about. I want you to:

Examine the shape of their wings
Look at the angle between the two wings in a joined up pair
Feel the texture of the wing around its different sides
Notice the size, shape and location of the 'seed' relative to the wing

What next?

Check out these related links and resources:

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