The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs

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Cal: If they've got all those chloroplasts, then you'd need them to be near the top of the leaf to get that all-important sunshine. Ms Armit: There's more. If you were to zoom in really close to your leaves, you'd find loads of these tiny holes. These are called stomata. Leaves come in all different shapes and sizes. They all have the same basic setup. All leaves are used for photosynthesising in a plant, and that feeds the plant. You've got the midrib, and the veins, and the edge, and the leaf stem, which is called the petiole. Ms Armit: The leaf is a major organ in plants in which photosynthesis occurs. Without photosynthesis, there'd be very little life on Earth, because when plants photosynthesise, they take in carbon dioxide, and release oxygen as a by-product.

When the old lady who cares for their garden home becomes ill, lost in the dreams of the past, a group of brave good bugs, advised by a mysterious lost toy, set out on an epic quest to find the fabled Leaf Men, and ask for their aid. Climbing to the very top of the highest tree, a troupe of doodlebugs brave storms and confront a threatening Spider Queen, eventually finding that their perseverance is rewarded, when the elfin Leaf Men do indeed appear, once called. All is set to rights again in the neglected garden, but to aid the old lady, it is found that the lost toy must once again play a part... The water needed for photosynthesis is absorbed through the roots and transported through tubes to the leaf.Ms Armit: Ha-ha. Leave that one to dry. There's one already over there that's done. Going to go and peel off some of the nail polish and tell me what you see. Plants get the carbon dioxide they need from the air through their leaves. It moves by diffusion through small holes in the underside of the leaf called stomata. Guard cells control the size of the stomata so that the leaf does not lose too much water in hot, windy or dry conditions. Cal: OK. Right. My Blue Peter moment. Here's one I made earlier. Um... OK. So some nail varnish here, I'm going to pull it off. I mean, it looks like really... really bumpy. Making a Leaf Man is so much fun, and a great way to incorporate learning about the autumn season! This fun craft works on fine motor skills, visual-spatial skills well as simple science and conversations about our environment. Upon returning home, have your children spread out all of their leaf project items on a table so that you can see if any might need time to dry first.

You can see here, there's holes in the leaf, and with a lot of air moving from the waterfall, these holes stop the leaf from ripping. Ms Armit: That's the waxy cuticle. It's on the surface of the leaf and its main job is to prevent water loss as the plant needs this water. It also protects the plant. See what happens when you pour water all over the leaf. Cal: Right, now, I'm not I'm not saying that I don't trust you, Ms Armit, because I do, but I can't see it. So I can't be certain that those tiny holes are actually there. Ms Armit: I told you. If you had a microscope, you would be able to see this even better. The stomata allows gases to flow in and out of the leaves.

Harvest Samba

I’ve found that it’s helpful for young children to sketch out the “body” of a person on a sheet of paper. It’s used as a template for them to see how they want to glue their leaves to create the leaf person craft. If your children are older, they probably don’t need this extra step! This resource is also great for use at home, if you want to keep your child occupied during a weekend in the autumn, then this make a leaf man autumn art activity is a great way for your child to spend some time doing a creative arts and crafts activity.

You can take your class outside into the playground to find some large autumnal leaves to collect for use in this activity, and students can use the leaves they have collected to create their own leaf man.Add an extra step and work on counting skills, color identification and more. Have your child count each read leaf, or place each yellow leaf in a pile etc.