TEACH PRESCHOOL SCIENCE
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      • Ways Animals Move
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      • Animals Live in Different Places
      • Metamorphosis and Change in Biology
      • Nocturnal Animals
      • Egg Science
      • Exploring Fish
      • Tree Skin Bark
      • Roots Growing Potatoes in Water
      • Stems - Making Daisy and Clover Chains
      • Flowers
      • Digging in the Dirt
    • Life Science People Index >
      • Parts of Our Body and How We Use Them
      • Our Heart
      • Our Hands
      • Our Feet
      • Fun With Balance
      • Sound Search
      • Sense of Touch
      • Exploring the Sense of Sight
      • Follow That Scent
      • Stop That Germ!
      • Interesting Tools That Doctors Use
      • We Need Healthy Teeth
      • Keep Those Muscles Moving!
    • Physical Science Index >
      • Blowing Bubbles
      • Magnify!
      • Ways to Measure Time
      • Magnetic Attraction
      • Ramps in Motion
      • Ice Melting
      • Sink or Float a Boat
      • Sponges and water
      • Dropping Things Through the Air
      • Static Electricity
      • Battery Electricity
      • Properties of Soap and Water
      • Weights and Balances
      • How Can Heat Change Things?
      • Tools Can Help Us Do Things
      • Lifting with Levers
      • Wheels
      • Predicting How Simple Machines Will Work
      • Computers and Other Devices
      • Discoveries With Straws
      • Different Ways of Making Light
    • Earth and Sky Science Index >
      • Shadow Chasing
      • Sun Effects
      • The Night Sky
      • Kinds of Clouds
      • Dressing for the Season
      • Classifying Rocks
      • Colors of the Rainbow
      • Who Has Seen the Wind?
      • Rain
      • Snow
      • Litter Hunt
      • We Can Take Care of the Earth
  • Teaching Notes
  • Links
  • Contact

Comparing Leaves


Core Learning Experience + Supplies and Equipment

  • ​Go for a walk in the yard or neighborhood. Take a plastic bag to collect different kinds of leaves and a digital camera. Ask questions: What do you notice about the trees? What do you notice about the leaves? Do all the trees have the same kind of leaves? Besides leaves, what other parts of a tree can you see?
  • Take the collection inside, and press the leaves on the sticky side of a piece of Contact paper.

Possible/Expected Discoveries

  •  Leaves are very important parts of plants, including trees. Leaves make food for the plants, so the plants can live. The plants need sunlight, water, and nutrients (food). 
  • Do all the leaves look the same? How are the leaves different? Are there any features that all the leaves have in common? How many 'points' do the leaves have?
  • Some have needles, some are broadleaf, some are long and thin, some are wide, some have one part, and others have lots of little parts.
  • Compare lengths of the leaves against other things e.g. this one is longer than my shoe; this one is smaller/shorter than my hand etc. 
  • Vocabulary: veins, stem, deciduous, evergreen, bud, spores, chlorophyll, photosynthesis 

Extended Learning and Other Curriculum Areas

  • Create a wall display of taped leaves labeled with tree name, or shape, or color, or season. Take a photo to remember them before they dry out
  • Choose one leaf and describe it for us. Leaf crayon rubbing Paint leaves and print with them
  • Leaf hat: cut hole in paper plate, glue or tape leaves around the outer circle.
  • Count leaves, hide leaves, make a leaf graph.
  • This topic could lead to studies of other parts of a plant; trees; a discussion about leaves in different seasons; photosynthesis; we eat plants.
Preschool science activities - leaves
Picture
Picture

Activity Packs and Printables

Fall Leaves 1- theme pack for preschool and pre-K
Fall Leaves 1- theme pack for preschool and pre-K. 39 pgs. $3.75
Fall Leaves 2 - theme pack for preschool and pre-K
Fall Leaves 2 - theme pack for preschool and pre-K. 42 pgs. $3.75
Match leaf silhouettes 3 different ways.
Match leaf silhouettes 3 different ways.
Leaves chant - counting backwards from 10 or 5.
Leaves chant - counting backwards from 10 or 5.
Creative coloring - different shapes of leaves.
Creative coloring - different shapes of leaves.

Websites

​http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/trees1/index2.html  (super resource about trees)
http://theseedsite.co.uk/leafshapes.html
http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/leaves.html
http://www.esf.edu/pubprog/brochure/leaves/leaves.htm
Leaves theme activities and printables for preschool
Arbor Day - Trees Activities for Preschool
Vegetables theme activities for preschool

Books

​Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
Why Do Leaves Change Color? By Betsy Maestro

USEFUL LINKS

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Teaching notes
Resource links

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Privacy Policy
This site is sponsored and supported by the preschool themes site www.KidSparkz.com
Activities written by (c) Susan Portman
Pre-K, Kindergarten, First, Second, Third, Homeschooler - TeachersPayTeachers.com
Copyright © 2005-2021 Teach Preschool Science - Permission granted to reproduce for personal educational use only. Commercial copying or selling is prohibited. No part of this resource may be uploaded to, or published on, any other site for any reason.
  • Home
  • Lesson Plans Index
    • Life Science Plants and Animals >
      • Comparing Leaves
      • Exploring Pumpkins
      • Shucking Corn
      • Earthworm Observation
      • Parent and Baby Animals
      • Collecting Ants
      • Spider Season
      • Visit to a Pet Store
      • Living and Non Living Things
      • Animals Come in Many Shapes, Sizes and Colors
      • Ways Animals Move
      • Animals Need to Eat
      • Difference Between Wild and Tame Animals
      • People Can Use Products Provided by Animals and Plants
      • Animal Coverings - Hair, Fur, Feathers, Scales and Skin
      • Animals Live in Different Places
      • Metamorphosis and Change in Biology
      • Nocturnal Animals
      • Egg Science
      • Exploring Fish
      • Tree Skin Bark
      • Roots Growing Potatoes in Water
      • Stems - Making Daisy and Clover Chains
      • Flowers
      • Digging in the Dirt
    • Life Science People Index >
      • Parts of Our Body and How We Use Them
      • Our Heart
      • Our Hands
      • Our Feet
      • Fun With Balance
      • Sound Search
      • Sense of Touch
      • Exploring the Sense of Sight
      • Follow That Scent
      • Stop That Germ!
      • Interesting Tools That Doctors Use
      • We Need Healthy Teeth
      • Keep Those Muscles Moving!
    • Physical Science Index >
      • Blowing Bubbles
      • Magnify!
      • Ways to Measure Time
      • Magnetic Attraction
      • Ramps in Motion
      • Ice Melting
      • Sink or Float a Boat
      • Sponges and water
      • Dropping Things Through the Air
      • Static Electricity
      • Battery Electricity
      • Properties of Soap and Water
      • Weights and Balances
      • How Can Heat Change Things?
      • Tools Can Help Us Do Things
      • Lifting with Levers
      • Wheels
      • Predicting How Simple Machines Will Work
      • Computers and Other Devices
      • Discoveries With Straws
      • Different Ways of Making Light
    • Earth and Sky Science Index >
      • Shadow Chasing
      • Sun Effects
      • The Night Sky
      • Kinds of Clouds
      • Dressing for the Season
      • Classifying Rocks
      • Colors of the Rainbow
      • Who Has Seen the Wind?
      • Rain
      • Snow
      • Litter Hunt
      • We Can Take Care of the Earth
  • Teaching Notes
  • Links
  • Contact