FACT: Seasons change as we orbit the sun.
Spring • Summer • Autumn • Winter
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| Public Domain photo |
e·qua·tor
[əˈkwā•dər]
noun
- an imaginary line drawn around the earth equally distant from both poles, dividing the earth into northern and southern hemispheres and constituting the parallel of latitude 0°.
In March when the sun shines directly over the equator, the event is called the spring or vernal equinox. In September when the sun shines directly over the equator, the event is called the fall or autumnal equinox.
Things to look for in fall:
1. Deciduous (di•si•jo͞o•əs) trees will change color and drop all their leaves. Evergreen trees will not. Evergreen trees will stay forever green. :-) Why do the leaves of deciduous trees change color? Use World Book Online to research. Remember, do NOT copy sentences. That is plagiarism, and it is against the law! Take notes, and then turn your notes into your own sentences.
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| Photo by Grandma Barb |
2. On the equinox, there are exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night. The day and night hours are equal. However, as we continue into fall, the days will get shorter and the night hours will get longer. This pattern will continue until we reach the winter solstice. That is the longest night of the year and marks a new season, winter.
3. Because the northern hemisphere is now tilted away from the sun, the days will start to become cooler. People will change their behavior. What sorts of behavioral changes will your family make as the days get shorter and cooler? (In southern California, we have mild climate. We don't get too cold in our community.)
There are many fall festivals or holidays. Watch the BrainPop video about fall to learn about the many harvest festivals celebrated. Do you celebrate any of these autumn holidays? If so, please share so we can learn from you!
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| Check out the FREE BrainPop video about Fall. |
4. Some animals in the northern hemisphere will change their behavior. As fall leads to winter, some animals migrate, or move, to a warmer area. Others try to fatten up for the winter they know is coming.
Again, BrainPop Jr. has a FREE video about fall.
Share some fun facts about fall!
If you are in the southern hemisphere, tell us what season you are enjoying! How are you changing your behavior?
Hello 3rd Graders,
ReplyDeleteWe are using your blog to help our 3rd grade class learn about blogs and good comments. You made a great video. It was very helpful.
Here in Maine, we have great fall foliage with many beautiful colors! As the days get shorter here, it can get very cold. People are often more tired because of the short days. Does the same thing happen in California?
Thank you,
Mrs. Lewis's Class
Dear Mrs. Yollis and class,
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous post about the Autumn season that starts on Wednesday at 12:20 P.M. in the Pacific Standard Time (PST) zone!
Allow me to introduce myself, I am the tree outside your classroom. The one behind the play equipment. My name is Ima Tree.
I wonder if someone could comment back to me. There is something I have been wondering for years. Why do my leaves change color every year and then drop to the ground?
Please "leaf" the information for me!
Your new blogging buddy,
Ima Tree
Dear Ima,
DeleteYour leaves change color because they have a chemical called chlorophyll in them. When fall comes you suck up some of the nutrients and store them in your trunk and branches. In spring, you take other nutrients from the soil and the ones you stored over the fall to make new chlorophyll. That's why your leaves change color in the fall.
I'd also like to ask what's your favorite evergreen tree?
Love, your very nice friend,
Amelia
Dear Ima Tree,
DeleteI like your leaves! They are very green and strong. Mrs. Yollis told us that you will be changing colors soon. We don't know the color yet, but it should be beautiful.
What color are you usually in the fall?
How many falls have you experienced. In other words, how old are you?
What's your favorite fall holiday?
From,
Nathaniel, Jasmine, Noah, Jacob, Molly, and Amelia
@ Amelia,
DeleteThank you so much for commenting back to me!
You asked about my favorite evergreen tree. My favorite evergreen tree is the magnolia. I adore how the leaves are green on the top and brown on the bottom. Equally important are the gorgeous white magnolias flowers that bloom seasonally. Have you ever seen a magnolia tree?
What is your favorite evergreen tree?
Your new tree friend,
Ima
@ Nathaniel, Jasmine, Noah, Jacob, Molly, and Amelia,
DeleteWow! My leaves are shaking with joy! I can't believe so many bloggers left me a comment!
You asked what color am I typically in fall. I am not going to tell you! You must wait and see for yourself. I will tell you, you are going to love me even more!
I am not sure how old I am. I think I am a teenager, but I'll have to think about it. Perhaps I'll *leaf* through an old photo album to find out.
My favorite fall holiday is Thanksgiving. It is so quiet here at school!
Your new tree friend,
Ima
Dear Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteI loved your post about the topic of fall!
I learned a lot about autumn. Leaves have this chemical called chlorophyll. The leaves change color and fall off the tree. When the leaves change color it looks like they're dying but they're not.
In fall, the nights become longer and the days become shorter. It rains sometimes so I wear a jacket, long pants, and long sleeve shirts.
Animals change their behavior in the fall too. Some animals hibernate which means they store their food to survive the long sleep.
What is your favorite leaf color during the fall?
From,
Asher
Dear Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteThank you for teaching me about fall!
Did you know when the sun is exactly at the equator the day is divided into 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night! I didn’t know that! The days become shorter and the nights become longer. I do not like this because I like daylight.
My favorite part about fall is jumping in a pile of leaves! I learned that chlorophyll makes leaves have different colors because chlorophyll can be different colors! I learned that from mystery science.
What is your favorite thing to do in fall?
From,
Lucas
Dear Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteI learned that when it's fall the leaves change colors. The air starts to cool and the days are shorter.
I like fall because my birthday is in the fall. Fall is my favorite season.
Mrs.Yollis, what's yours?
From,
Macayleigh
Dear Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteThank you for that great fall comment.
I learned so much. Did you know that chlorophyll sucks into the trunk of the tree? Butterflies, whales and buffalo migrate in the fall. Fall goes from half of September to half of December. When it is fall on our side of Earth, it is the opposite season on the bottom.
What is your favorite leaf color during the fall?
From,
Noah
Dear Noah,
DeleteMy favorite leaf color during fall is red I like many more colors but red is my favorite.
your friend Amelia!
Dear Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteThanks for teaching about fall.
I’ve learned so much from your blog. For instance, I never knew that leaves change color because they store a substance in their trunks called chlorophyll and then either an orange, yellow, brown and sometimes red substance comes out.
The weather is cooler, so I wear long pants, sweatshirts and hats. In fall sometimes it rains.
The days are shorter and the nights are longer except on the autumnal equinox. That day is 12 hours and the night is 12 hours.
What is your favorite activity in fall?
From,
Eli
Dear Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteI really like your blog and how you taught us all about fall.
First of all, I really like fall because it is not cold or hot, it’s cool.
I learned that trees change colors in the fall because the trees put green chlorophyll in their trunk to keep it safe for winter. There are different kinds of nutrients in a leaf such as chlorophyll which is green and different kinds of nutrients that are: orange, yellow, brown and even red sometimes.At the end of fall, leaves from some trees (deciduous) come off one at a time.
There are many different holidays and celebrations such as Thanksgiving, sukkot, the Chinese moon, and more.
I also learned from your blog about vernal equinox and autumnal equinox: in March, when the sun shines directly over the equator it is called the vernal equinox (Spring), and when that happens in September, that is called autumnal equinox (Fall). On these days there are exactly twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours of night. That happens two times a year.
In fall, the days are shorter than in summer and there are less hours of daylight than night time and that pattern will continue until we reach winter solstice.That is the longest night of the year and it marks the beginning of winter.
Thank you so much for writing this blog, it taught me a lot about fall and spring.
From,
Ava
Fall
ReplyDeleteDear Mrs. Yollis,
I love all the things you showed us so we can learn
I learned that the days get shorter. I also learned that the earth orbits the sun! Now, I know that Thanksgiving, Halloween,
and more happens in fall! I also now know about the pilgrims!
The weather in fall is cool. I will wear long pants, a light jacket and a sweater. Sometimes it rains in the fall.You can also wear hats.
In autumn some trees like evergreens do not lose their leaves but not all are evergreens so they lose their leaves. In spring the trees get their leaves back so they are not dying. Their leaves turn red, yellow, and sometimes brown-ish, and orange.
Thank you for teaching me all this stuff! What is your favorite thing to do in fall?
My favorite thing to do in the fall is play at the park in the chilly wind.
Love,
Ayda
Dear Mrs Yollis
ReplyDeleteThank you for telling us about fall!
In the fall, night and day are equal hours. The temperature is cold and it is often windy. Sometimes it even rains.
The trees change color in fall. There is a chemical called chlorophyll, a green pigment, that is absent in the fall, taking away the green color of the leaves, leaving them brown, red, yellow, and or orange.
We eat soup and drink hot beverages in the fall. We celebrate Halloween in the month of October which is also in the fall. We play outside and rake leaves in our backyard.I like to play outside in the fall and get messy.
you like to do in fall?
From,
Nathaniel
My Quality Comment
ReplyDeleteDear Mrs. Yollis,
Thank you for telling me about fall.
In fall people do a lot of celebrations like Thanksgiving. The day gets shorter and the night gets longer. Some trees change colors like red, orange and brown. Fall is in September, October and November .I like jumping in the leaves. I put on long sleeves and pants. I like picking apples and I like to make a cake with thaem. My favorite recipe is the apple crumble with cinnamon.
What do you like to do in fall?
From,
Victoire
Dear Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your awesome blog post about fall!
I learned how in fall trees suck some of the nutrients from the chlorophyll and store them in their branches and trunk. But then in spring they take the stored nutrients and some other nutrients from things around them and make more chlorophyll.
I think that it is very cool that the autumnal equinox has 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of nighttime. I find it very interesting that the days get shorter instead of longer! Even though that is so cool I don’t like it very much.
I can’t believe that there are so many different holidays like Yom Kippur, Halloween, and Thanksgiving. Do you celebrate Yom Kippur? I don't but I do love Halloween and Thanksgiving. I love Halloween because I go trick-or-treating. I also see lots of my friends, get candy, and dress up! What I love about Thanksgiving is I get to see all of my family members, I eat lots of delicious foods, and it's fun!
What's your favorite thing to do in fall?
Your kind student,
Amelia
Fall
ReplyDeleteDear Mrs. Yollis,
I loved your blog post about the topic of fall.
I learned a lot about it. For example, I learned that sometimes it rains in the fall. Whenever it does, I wear long sleeve shirts, long pants, boots, and a coat.
The days get shorter and the nights become longer. What I like about fall is that we get to sleep longer but I dislike that it gets dark outside early. Therefore, I get less time to play in the daytime.
In the fall, fruits and vegetables grow but leaves change their color and fall off the trees. Since there are a lot of leaves on the ground, you can even jump on them. It will be so much fun!
Lastly, did you know that animals change their behavior in the fall? Some animals hibernate which means they store their food to survive while sleeping a very long time during winter.
What do you like about fall?
From
Ori
Dear Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteI love your post! I learned about the fall weather and learned that it rains sometimes. At night, it's colder and you should wear long sleeves and pants.
I also learned that the leaves on a tree change colors and I learned a lot about how the trees drop their leaves. Also I learned that in fall when the leaves drop it has chlorophyll so the leaves grow again.
I do not like fall because it rains.
What is your favorite season and why? I like winter.
From,
Molly
ReplyDeleteThanks for teaching me about fall!
I never knew that leaves have chlorophyll in them, but now I understand it. Leaves are full of chlorophyll and in the winter they put their chlorophyll in their branches and trunk. So they have leaf colors like yellow, orange, brown and red.
What's your favorite thing to do in fall?
From,
Drake
Dear Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteI learned so much. I love that you teach me a lot.
I did not know that in the fall we get more time to sleep. I am so happy I have not been getting enough sleep lately. The trees have this thing in their leaves called chlorophyll.
In fall, animals change their behavior too. For example, some animals eat a whole lot of food to prepare for their winter hibernation.
What is your favorite fall food?
From,
Grayson
Dear Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteI loved your blog comment! It taught so much about fall.
I really like fall, so I'm excited that the season is starting. I didn’t know that the start of fall was called the autumnal equinox or that the sun would be facing directly on the equator.
The two things I’m not going to like are that summer is ending and that there are shorter days.The two things that I will like are that there are longer nights (more sleeping(: ) and cooler weather.
It’s very cool that leaves change color because of the chemicals inside them. It’s interesting that the trees are just bringing the green chemicals in the leaves into their trunks.
What is your favorite kind of tree and what about it do you like?
From,
Anais
Fall
ReplyDeleteDear Mrs. Yollis,
Thank you for teaching us about fall.
Did you know that the trees don’t die in fall? That's why in spring they're fine again.Trees have a special thing called chlorophyll. It makes trees green. In fall the tree sucks the chlorophyll into its tree trunk. It sucks it in so it’s safe for the winter. If it doesn't get sucked in for winter, it’ll die. The leaves change color because they don’t have the chlorophyll in them anymore. That is why the leaves change color and fall off the tree. In the spring the tree trunk shoots the chlorophyll out to the branches to make new leaves.
Did you know that we celebrate a bunch of holidays in fall? Halloween, Thanksgiving, the Moon Festival, and a bunch of others. Some countries celebrate holidays that other countries don’t celebrate.
What is your favorite fall food? Mine is mac n’ cheese at Thanksgiving for me.
From,
Zach
Dear Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteThank you for teaching about fall.
In fall there are 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night. I didn’t know that!
I learned that there’s a chemical called chlorophyll in trees during fall. The trunk sucks the chlorophyll into the trunk during fall and winter. in the spring the tree reuses the chlorophyll to regrow its leaves
From,
Marcus
Dear Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your fall post.
I learned that in the fall the days get shorter and the nights get longer. I also learned that in the fall the weather is cool and sometimes it rains.
Also did you know that leaves change color in autumn? They change color because they have a chemical called chlorophyll. The chlorophyll is what makes the leaves green, but in the fall the chlorophyll goes into the roots, trunk, and branches to store until the spring.
What is your favorite fall holiday?
From,
Miryam
Dear Mrs. Yollis,
ReplyDeleteThank you for teaching me about fall.
I learned that there’s a chemical in a tree called chlorophyll in the leaves. I know how the leaves change color. There’s different colored chlorophyll in the leaves so the tree only sucks up the green chlorophyll.
I love jumping in the leaves! My favorite part about fall is that there is perfect weather. Did you know that there is 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night time? On September 22 12:20 A.M. there is an autumnal equinox.Do you know what an autumnal equinox is?
What is your favorite fall color?
From,
Tyler
Dear Mrs. Yollis and Class,
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful post about fall. I loved reading all the comments including the facts you have all learned and what you enjoy about fall.
I love fall myself. I enjoy how the days, and especially the nights get cooler and how the fresh smell of autumn is in the air. Working in my garden to prepare for planting fall and winter vegetables is also something I enjoy. In addition, I love cooking and eating some of what are considered fall fruits and vegetables: apples, pears, squash, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, and turnips.
Because the weather begins to cool down, I often am out hiking even more than in summer. I celebrated the first day of fall this year by taking a trip to Santa Cruz Island, part of Channel Islands National Park. Mr. Ranney and I hiked a total of about 8 miles and even spotted a Channel Islands fox!
Some fall facts I have to share have to do with the fact that Monarch butterfly migration begins in fall. Monarchs begin to head south on a 3,000 mile journey from northeastern United States and Canada to their winter home in southwestern Mexico. To stay warm when they're not in flight, they cluster together in trees. Believe it or not, tens of thousands of them can clump together into a single tree.
Have you ever seen a Monarch butterfly? Have you seen them cluster together in a tree?
What is your favorite fall activity?
Here's to fall!
Mrs. Ranney
Dear Mrs Yollis,
ReplyDeleteI loved learning about different colors of leaves in the fall. It is very interesting to see how it looks like the plant is dying when it is just the tree getting ready for winter. Leaves turn different colors because there's chlorophyll in the leaves.The chlorophyll makes the leaves green but when the fall comes, the tree sucks in all that chlorophyll to save for the winter. When it becomes sinter the leaves fall off and when it becomes spring again the leaves grow back. I had lots of fun learning about Fall.
What is your favorite thing to do in the Fall?
Your blogging buddy,
Ryan