Tuesday, November 6, 2007

WHY DO LEAVES CHANGE COLORS, ACCORDING TO THE WEATHER CHANGES?

IM NOT SURE IF YOU HAVE NOTICED BEFORE, BUT WHEN THERE ARE SUDDEN WEATHER CHANGES, LEAVES ALSO HAVE A SUDDEN CHANGE IN COLOR. THE MAIN TOPIC IS WHY LEAVES CHANGE COLOR. ACCORDING TO MY RESEARCH, I'VE CAME TO REALIZE EXACTLY HOW IT WORKS... WELL DURING AUTUMN, IM SURE YOU'VE NOTICED HOW LEAVES CHANGE COLORS; RED, ORANGE, YELLOW...ETC. EVERYONE SEES THE BEAUTIFUL COLORS, BUT THEY DON'T KNOW HOW OR WHAT CAUSES THEM TO CHANGE. THE REASON WHY THEY CHANGE COLORS IN AUTUMN, IS BECAUSE THE LEAVES DON'T GET ENOUGH LIGHT AS THEY USED TO, AND THE AMOUNT OF CHLOROPHYLL DECREASES. SINCE THERE IS LESS CHLOROPHYLL, THE LEAVES LOSE THEIR STRONG GREEN COLOR. TREES RESPOND TO A SMALL AMOUNT OF SUNLIGHT BY PRODUCING LESS AND LESS CHLOROPHYLL. EVENTUALLY, WHEN MOST OF THE CHLOROPHYLL IS GONE, A TREE STOPS PRODUCING IT. DURING THAT TIME, THERE ARE SHORTER DAYS AND LONGER NIGHTS, WHICH MEANS THAT TREES DONT GET ENOUGH SUNLIGHT, SO THE CHLOROPHYLL STARTS TO DIE OUT. THE LEAVES LIVE OFF OF THE FOOD THEY HAD STORED, AND THE LEAF ITSELF LATER DIES, WHICH IS WHEN IT HAS CHANGED COLORS, DEMONSTRATING THAT THERE IS NO LONGER ANY CHLOROPHYLL LEFT IN THE LEAF. LIKE ALL PIGMENTS, CHLOROPHYLL ABSORBS, REFLECTS, AND GIVES OFF LIGHT. AS A TREE PREPARES FOR WINTER,MANY MOLECULES IN ITS LEAVES, INCLUDING CHLOROPHYLL BREAK DOWN AND ARE RECYCLED...

2 comments:

Brittany Lake said...

i think that you forgot to say that the Carotenoids is the orange,yellow and brown color pigment...and when the cholophyll dies that is when the carotenoids starts to show there colors.



and the red pigment color is called anthocyanins.

Corina said...

i think you are right.That is what i put on blog.