The teddy bears were sadly watching the dried leaves falling from the trees. This seemed to happen every Autumn until most of the trees were just bare branches. "I like the leaves on the trees changing colour from green to yellow, red and orange - they're very pretty," said Henry "but why don't the trees keep their leaves on all year round? Why do they have to fall off?"
"Well, there's a reason why leaves change colour in Autumn," said Scary "and also why all the leaves fall off certain trees."
He explained that when leaves are green in Spring and Summer they are working hard to turn sunlight into energy so that the tree can grow. A chemical called 'chlorophyll' is what gives the leaves their green colour.
But, when the days get shorter (and there are much less hours of sunshine) and the weather gets colder (as it does in Autumn) then it is harder for the chlorophyll to make the food needed to keep the leaves green. The green colour disappears, leaving behind other colours that you normally can't see. This is when the yellow and orange colours magically become visible and give the leaves their beautiful new look.
