Fall is such a beautiful time of year. The air is crisp and the leaves the are turning. It is the perfect time to curl up with a warm cup of apple cider. However, what exactly is it that turns the leaves' color?
Trees use photosynthesis to create its food. With sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide, plants can create glucose and oxygen. Chlorophyll is a chemical that helps in the process of photosynthesis and is also what makes leaves green. In the fall, trees begin shutting down in preparation for winter. When this happens, all of the chlorophyll disappears. When the chlorophyll is gone, the yellow and orange colors become visible. These colors have been in the leaves all summer long, but have been covered up by the green. Some trees have glucose trapped in their leaves and when it cools off, the glucose turns a red color. This causes the leaves to appear red or sometimes even a shade of purple. As winter gets closer, the leaves will fall off of the trees. The trees will go into a sort of hibernation in which they are no longer creating food. They will survive till spring on the glucose they have stored up.
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