By Tanna M. Friday
Editor
TRUSSVILLE — Albert Camus, a French author, said: “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” This season has provided bouquets of dazzling colors throughout our region. Places like the Trussville Civic Center, Argo’s William’s Orchard, and Springville’s Homestead Hollow are just a few places that you will see various shades of red, orange, maroon and yellow in the woodlands.
Have you ever wondered why leaves change their color? We asked this question to some of our local, bright, young children and below are some of their responses.
“Because they died,” six-year-old Emma-Reese Morrison said.
“It’s called fall because the leaves fall and in spring new leaves grow,” seven-year-old Moses Morrison said.
“Because there are these little particles in there and the tree sucks them into their trunk to store it over winter,” eight-year-old, Charlotte Alexander said. “And then you would think the tree’s leaves would become clear, but it doesn’t because the leaves have their own colors: yellow, red and orange, and that’s how it changes.”
“Because it’s fall,” six-year-old Sophie Peoples said.
“Because when it turns to fall it gets colder,” seven-year-old Avery Olive said. “And I think that the weather changes the colors of the leaves.”
Ten-year-old Zachary Friday said, “Since atoms and molecules make up everything, maybe one of the molecules or atoms are a different color than the leaf. Once the leaf molecules combine, it makes a different color leaf.”
“The sky causes the leaves to change colors because the sky has the colors in it and during fall it melts the colors into the leaves,” six-year-old Eleanor Szkolnik said.
Beck Knapp added, “I don’t know, do you?”
According to Science Daily, chlorophyll breaks down and stops the food-making process during the fall season because of the changes in the length of daylight and temperatures. The leaves’ green color disappears, the yellow to orange colors become visible and give the leaves fall splendor.