Autumn

Colour matching, under close supervision of Buzz!
Looking at moss under the microscope.

Looking at the anthocyanin in apples.
To understand what happens to the leaves at Autumn time, we began by looking at the process of photosynthesis. The girls drew diagrams of the process of photosynthesis.
At Autumn time, the chlorophyll production slows down and eventually stops. The remaining chlorophyll breaks down and the green colour fades, and the yellow carotene can be seen.
A layer of corky cells forms across the leaf stalk, ready for leaf shedding. This restricts the flow of sugars back into the tree. Sugars stay in the leaf and become concentrated, they are eventually converted to anthocyanin, a red/purple pigment.