Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2021 i Click Science and Discovery Magazine for Preschoolers and Young Children

You might have seen one of these seeds at lunch today. Many people (and animals) eat the fruit that grows around the seeds. This seed has a little papery wing. That helps the seed flutter and fly away from its shady parent tree, so it can find a sunny spot to grow. These seeds grow inside a cone. When the cone is dry, it opens and the little winged seeds fall out. This spiky ball is a seed pod. As the pod dries, little holes open. Two tiny seeds rest inside each hole. So one ball might hold 30 to 50 seeds. This nut is called an acorn. Squirrels and jays like to eat the seed inside. They often bury the acorns to eat the seeds later. If they don’t…

On a sunny day, place a clear plastic bag over a few leaves of a growing plant, and tape it shut. To prove that any water you see comes from the plant, not the bag, fill a second bag with air and tape it shut too. Place it near the leaf bag. Wait a few hours; then check the bags. You should see water droplets in the leaf bag but only air in the other bag. A big tree has so many leaves, it can lose hundreds of gallons of water in one day. But when water is scarce, during cold winters or long, dry seasons, trees need to save their water. Take a look at how they do it. Moisten three paper towels. Spread one out flat. Roll one…

Hello down there. I’m a giant sequoia tree. We sequoias are some of the oldest, widest, tallest trees in the world. We’re originally from the mountains of California, but now you can find a few of us in other states and countries too. Here’s how I grew. Giant sequoia cones are about the size of a chicken egg. Each cone contains around 200 flat, light, little seeds. I was lucky. I landed in a nice sunny spot with plenty of room to grow. My red bark grows thick—two feet or more! It protects me from bad weather and even forest fires. Animals love me. Birds nest in my branches. Bats roost there. Squirrels eat my cones. Other animals hide and rest in my shade. Our wood resists rot, so when…

Every apple has five seed pockets. Each pocket holds one or more seeds. If you plant one of the seeds, it will take almost 10 years for the apple tree to grow big enough to grow fruit. All trees that have cones that hold their seeds are called conifers. The pine family is the largest family among the conifers, and pine trees are probably the best-known examples. Jane likes to toss maple seeds up and watch them “helicopter” down. Click’s favorite type of maple tree is the sugar maple because its sap is used to make maple syrup. Squirrels and jays aren’t the only animals that eat acorn seeds. Mice, bears, woodpeckers, ducks, and many other animals do too. An acorn that doesn’t get eaten might grow into an oak…

But no matter how old or big it gets, a tree begins as a seed. Take a look at how a maple tree grows.…

Have you ever heard of chlorophyll? The name comes from the Greek words that mean green and leaf. It’s a good fit because one of the things that chlorophyll does is give leaves their green color. Chlorophyll also has another important job. It helps plants make food from sunlight, water, and . But leaves don’t just come ready-packed with chlorophyll. They must make it, and to do that, they need light. During the long days of summer, leaves make lots and lots of chlorophyll, so they can make lots and lots of food. All that green chlorophyll keeps the leaves looking green, green, gr When fall comes, daytimes get shorter. That tells trees to get ready for winter. They store food in their branches, trunks, and roots, and they stop…

Can you find the right leaf for each tree in this book? Cut out the four rectangles along the dashed lines, and fold each in half along the solid line. Put the folded pages in order according to their page numbers. Ask a grownup to staple or sew the pages together at the fold. Now cut out the seven leaves on this page, and tape or glue each one where it belongs in the book. Aspen Aspen trees are found in the northern and western U.S. An aspen leaf is almost round in shape, with a pointy tip and rounded points along its edges. Black locust Black locust trees are found in the eastern U.S. A black locust leaf is made up of many small leaflets. The leaflets have smooth…