Parents and elementary teachers can teach how leaves change and help children compare and contrast the four seasons with leaf life cycle elementary science lesson plans. This autumn, use Fall Is Not Easy by Marty Kelley [Zino Press Children’s Books, 1998] in literature-based science activities that teach the leaf life cycle and the changing of the seasons.
Fall Is Not Easy Lesson Plan Objectives
- Students will demonstrate an understanding of the way the leaves on a tree change over the course of the year.
- Students will compare and contrast the four seasons, focusing specifically on how other parts of nature change with each season.
Materials for Life Science Lesson Plans
- Fall Is Not Easy by Marty Kelley
- Cycle diagram and compare/contrast graphic organizers
- Paper
- Pencils
- Crayons, colored pencils, or markers
Autumn Leaf Life Cycle Lesson Plan
- Display the cover of Fall Is Not Easy and help children identify the parts of the tree that are pictured: leaves, trunk, and branches.
- Before reading, ask children to share any prior knowledge they have about what happens to a tree's leaves in the autumn. Discuss the title and record children's guesses why fall might not be easy for a tree.
- Read the book aloud, asking children to keep track of the seasons mentioned and the different things that happen in each season.
- After reading, discuss the plot of the book. Ask children to talk about the changes through which the tree goes, and have them identify why this tree thinks that fall is not easy. (Possible answer: Its leaves won't change to the "correct" colors.)
- Ask children to describe what usually happens to a tree's leaves in autumn. Have them compare this experience with how the leaves of the tree in the book change. Point out that this book is a fantasy because trees cannot really talk or form silly pictures with their leaves.
- Pass out blank cycle diagrams with four squares connected in a cycle by arrows. Ask children to label the boxes winter, spring, summer, and autumn
- Have children think of a kind of tree that loses its autumn leaves each year and draw this same tree in each season. Tell them to pay attention to the state of the tree's leaves at each stage. (The tree should be bare in winter, growing green leaves in spring, covered with green leaves in summer, and have leaves that are changing color and falling off in autumn.)
- To assess understanding, have each child dictate or write a short paragraph at the bottom of the page that summarizes the action taking place in his or her completed leaf life cycle diagram.
- As an extension activity, introduce more specific science content about topics like chlorophyll and pigments by using a second trade picture book such as Leaves! Leaves! Leaves! by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace [Marshall Cavendish, 2003] or Why Do Leaves Change Color? by Betsy Maestro [HarperCollins Publishers, 1994].
Compare and Contrast the Four Seasons Lesson Plan
- After discussing Fall Is Not Easy, pass out compare/contrast charts with four columns headed winter, spring, summer, and autumn and two rows titled weather and animal life.
- Ask children to fill in the chart with information collected from the text and pictures of the book.
- Once the chart is complete, discuss how the weather changes from season to season and talk about things animals do during different seasons.
Assessment for Literature-Based Science Activities
To assess understanding after children complete these elementary science activities, have children work in groups to draw a series of pictures that illustrates what happens to a family of robins over the course of one year.
Once students have completed these leaf life cycle elementary science lesson plans, leave Fall Is Not Easy out for children to enjoy at their leisure. This children's picture book can also be used to teach literature-based lessons in writing and art.
Renee Carver - Renée Carver has an Elementary Education degree and over ten years of experience writing and editing children's educational products.
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