It´s getting to be that time of the year where the leaves change colors, and the days are cooler and shorter. There is a crispness to the air that is so different than any other time of the year.
The Fall Leaves Unit study is available as a FREE download to celebrate the changing season with your family. The lesson plan will teach your child about the changes that fall brings to your area. It will answer questions like what autumn is, why do the leaves change, and explore the colors of fall.
Hello! I want to take a quick minute to introduce myself to you! My name is Kaycee Hobbs, and I am the homeschooling mama to seven children. This year we officially have a child in every level of school from preschool to high school. To save time, I teach as many of them together as I can by using unit studies.
Fall or autumn is one of my personal favorite times of the year. The weather is becoming cooler after enduring a scorching summer and there are more opportunities to spend time outside doing activities like bonfires or raking leaves. We live in the country surrounded by a variety of trees and so as the leaves change, our home is breathtakingly beautiful!
I love to celebrate and explore these changes in our homeschool every year. One year, we took a picture of our house and yard every day while the leaves were changing. It was amazing to record it right before our very eyes!
What is a Unit Study?
I mentioned above that I teach my children with unit studies to save time. I wanted to take a moment to share with you what a unit study is and how we use them in our homeschool. A unit study is taking a specific topic and exploring various parts of it while using a variety of learning styles. As you can imagine, with seven kids we have every learning style represented.
Each child accomplishes and learns at their specific level within the unit study. Older children will find themselves teaching the younger children because they will be able to demonstrate a point that would have normally been over the younger child´s head. I am not saying the younger child completely gets it, but having the exposure helps them grasp the concept down the road.
It allows me to instruct our children while involving hands-on learning activities. I like to use our five senses to do this. As a rule, I incorporate at least three of their senses into our lesson. I have found this tends to help make it stick because we are making memories.
You can read about how I do this in this post!
What Subjects Does This Unit Study Cover?
This unit study covers: Vocabulary, Handwriting, Science, PE, and Art.
Supply List
I like to keep my supply lists as simple as possible so hopefully, you have many of the supplies on hand. Here is the supply list for this Fall Leaves Unit Study:
- Printed Unit Study
- Pencils
- Electronic Device
- Internet Access
- Dictionary
- Printer
- Isopropyl Alcohol
- Glasses
- Coffee Filters
- Outside Space
- Leaves
- Crayons
- Paper
- Camera
- Glue
- Wooden Spoon
- Scissors
- Garbage Bags
- Rake
Fall Leaves Unit Study
This unit study has four parts:
- What is Autumn?
- Why Do the Leaves Change?
- The Colors of Autumn
- Time To Play!
Part One: What is Autumn?
The unit study will begin with the students watching a video about the changes that the fall season brings.
After they have watched the video, they will complete a writing activity where they must write down three changes that happen during fall. Encourage the child to think about their favorites and write those down. They might even think of a few that are not mentioned in the video.
Fall Nature Journal
Next, they will complete the Fall Nature Journal that is included in the unit study. I encourage you to have the students complete this journal several times through the season so they can see the changes right before their very eyes. I have the child put their nature journal pages in a binder so they can review it at the end. It also is a great keepsake for the future!
In this journal, they will do the following things:
- Date it
- Look up the high and low temperatures for that day
- Look up the Sunrise and Sunset Times
- Do a Leaf Rubbing
- Take a picture of your yard
Date
Write the date of the day that you are completing the nature journal page.
High and Low Temperatures
I want them to notice the difference in the temperatures as they travel through this season because this affects the leaves on the trees. I let the kids use our favorite weather app to get this information.
Sunrise and Sunset Times
I want the children to see how the days are getting shorter, so I let them look up the sunrise and sunset times. Again, we use our favorite weather app.
Leaf Rubbing
Our kids love doing leaf rubbings and so I added that to the Nature Journal. If you don´t know how to do it, I have included a video for you to watch that shows the step by step instructions.
Picture of Your Yard and Home
Take a picture of your yard or your favorite tree so that you can see the changes as they happen.
Part Two: Why Do the Leaves Change?
This part begins with a YouTube video that explains why the leaves change color and fall off the trees.
Once they have finished watching the video, they will answer the question: What is chlorophyll? If they can´t remember the answer, they can watch the video again or simply look it up on the internet.
They will complete a listening activity during this portion of the study. The leader will read the included step by step instructions to the child and they will draw what they are told. When they are done, they will have drawn the process of photosynthesis. This activity is an excellent way to train the child to listen for details and directions about where things go.
They will complete a writing activity by filling in the blanks correctly. They will be defining the difference in deciduous trees and evergreen trees. After they have completed this portion, they can go outside to see if they can identify the differences in their own yards.
In the sorting activity, they will need to take samples of leaves or needles and glue them in the appropriate boxes on the unit study worksheet. If you do not have access to the two different types of trees, the child could draw an example or print a picture of one off the internet or cut one out of a magazine.
Part Three: The Colors of Autumn
They will start this lesson off by watching a YouTube video about where leaves get their color.
After they have observed the science experiment demonstrated on the video about how the leaves break down their color, it´s their turn! Following the instructions on the video and in the unit study, the children will be able to see the pigments that are in the leaves wherever you live.
You can have the child video tape their experiment as they do it or they can just video their findings and share it with friends and family.
Part Four: Time to Play!
The best part about fall is getting out to enjoy it! They will watch a music video that will be enjoyed especially by the young ones before they pick a game or three to play!
Now, it´s time to head outside to play in those leaves. I have included three activity ideas for your family to enjoy. You can pick one or do all of them!
Leaf Maze
Can you create a Leaf Maze for your brother or sister?
- Get a rake and go outside.
- Create a maze by raking the leaves into lines leaving gaps for others to go through.
- Start in the center of your yard and work toward the outside.
How Many Leaves Can You Catch?
You can work on counting with this fun activity!
- Get a rake and go outside.
- Rake a pile of leaves.
- Count to three and throw as many leaves in the air as you can.
- Catch as many leaves with your hands as they float back down.
- Count them to see how many you caught.
Leaf Relay Race
Do you need the leaves in the yard cleaned up? Turn it into this fun little game!
- Divide into two teams.
- Get a large garbage bag for each team.
- Set the bags at one end of the yard.
- When your leader says go, everyone gathers leaves as quickly as they can.
- The first team to fill their bag wins!
Fall Leaves Unit Study Directions
YouTube Videos
There are several YouTube videos in this study. It is recommended that the parent preview the videos before the child sees them. When the lesson instructs the child to watch, it is recommended they stop and watch before moving on.
Hands-On Activities
This unit study is designed to take the child on a journey as they build upon each concept. The videos, hands-on activities and assignments are meant to be done in the order they are written in.
FREE Download
You can get this Fall Leaves Unit Study for FREE! All you have to do us sign up on our email list and it will unlock the free download. From there, you can print the unit study, gather a few supplies, and go make memories!
Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy this lesson. We appreciate YOU!
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