The Blue and Green Pre-K classroom chromatographers “brought the outside in” to explore why leaves change color.
After moving and stretching our bodies like tall, majestic oaks and swirling leaves in the autumn wind, we muddled our favorite color leaves in a mason jar with rubbing alcohol using scissors and nature tools. We folded a coffee filter to place into our jars and made predictions on a blank filter of what we thought might happen after leaving one end of the filter to soak in our leaf liquid overnight. Would we find a pattern? Colors? What would that tell us? Would it be a clue that the trees are “going to sleep” for the winter and making less food?
We wrapped up our first steam adventure with the book “Little Yellow Leaf,” a fall favorite. Ask your chromatographer what appeared on his or her filter!
Early Childhood Education for Children Ages 2 – 5
