SHORT SUMMARY

WHY DO LEAVES CHANGE COLOUR IN AUTUMN?

Plants make their own food. They take water from the ground through their roots. They take a gas called carbon dioxide from the air. They turn water and carbon dioxide into food using sunlight and something called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is green. It gives leaves their green colour.

Winter days are short and dry. Many plants stop making food in autumn. The chlorophyll goes away. Then we can see orange and yellow colours. These colours were in the leaves all summer, but the green covered them up.

Some leaves turn red. This colour is made in autumn, from food trapped in the leaves. Brown colours are also made in autumn. They come from wastes left in the leaves.