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Introduction
This picture shows exactly why leaves change colors when they die (Glucose is where their color comes from)
Purpose: To make a timeline using pictures in order to document changes in plant life over the semester, and explain why these changes occur.
Hypothesis: As time passes, leaves will start to change colors on the deciduous trees and other plant life will start to dwindle until the first snow storm hits, which will then kill off anything that is left living and is not an evergreen. -
first picture
This picture and all the other pictures in this presentation were on the bridge by wells hall and the computer center right above the eighth pole counting from the side closest to wells house facing downriver. At this point in the season, the leaves hanging over the red cedar are just starting to change color. You can see that the leaves closest to me on the left have the most color change. This is probably because they get the most direct sunlight. -
second picture
Now other leaves are starting to change color along with the ones closest to me on the left, which now are even darker than before, meaning that they still are receiving more sunlight than the other trees. The leaves on the right are also starting to change color meaning that they receive more sunlight than the leaves directly in front of me which haven’t changed color at all yet. -
third picture
From last week to this week you can see that there has been significant change in the amount leaves on the trees. This is due to the fact that we had a relatively large storm this week which caused the leaves that were dying on the trees to fall off. Notice how the middle tree, which still has green leaves, still has most of its leaves but the two trees that showed the most color change, (trees closest to me on the left and the on the right, see other slide) have the least amount of leaves. -
fourth picture
Now most of the leaves on the three trees I have been talking about (the one closest to me on my right, the one on the left, and the one in the middle) have fallen off. The ones that have stayed on are mostly all relatively green leaves. As you can see though, most of the other trees further down the river are still green, this is most likely because they get less sun, or they have bigger leaves which would take longer to die. -
5th picture
The leaves around the the three main trees I have been talking about are now starting to change color. They have gone from the normal green color, to a lighter green and some have even turned brown in just a week. This means that the leaves that turned brown in just a week must have recieved a lot more sunlight this week than in other weeks, probably due to the fact that as leaves in other trees fall off, these leaves become more exposed to the sun. -
6th picture
The brown leaves that I was talking about in the previous picture have now started to fall off the tree, and the light green leaves have now turned into a light yellow/green color. Change is becoming more obvious now because almost all trees are showing some sort of chage regarding color, and once change starts, further color change occurs exponentially. -
7th picture
Now many of the leaves that were show just a slight sign of changing color in the previous week have fallen off their trees. Also, the leaves on the very left of the picture are now starting to become a light green. A possible reason for them just starting to change color is becasue in order for leaves to change color, they must be exposed to sunlight, and these leaves have not been exposed to the sun because the leaves above them were blocking it. -
8th picture
A ton of leaves have fallen off between this week and last week because we had a few days with very strong winds, which casues dying leaves to fall faster. At this point, almost all the trees have lost their leaves except the one tree on the left of the picture. This tree still has green leaves, but they are getting lighter and lighter as they become more and more exposed to sunlight. -
9th picture
The leaves on the tree to on the left of the picture are now mostly yellow rather than light green, which means they are closer to falling off due to increased sun exposer compared to previous weeks. It is my prediction that by next week these leaves should be off the tree based on the temperature drops that are occuring and the snow that is predicted to come. -
10th picture
My prediction from last week along with my hypothesis turned out to be correct. All the leaves are now gone because of the temperature drop and the snow storm. Despite all the trees being covered with snow, however, no water on the river is yet frozen. Now that the snow has come, the leaves on the trees in the picture have all fallen off, which is one of the main signs winter is here. -
Conclusion
By fulfillng my purpose through creating a timline with pictures (and expinations) in order to document changes in plant life along the Red Cedar River, I have come to the conclusion that that my hypothesis is correct. As time passed, the leaves started to change colors on the deciduous trees, and other plant life started to dwindle until the first snow storm hit, which then killed off anything in the picture that is left living and is not an evergreen.
