what ’ s that ?
autumn tree buds
Some interesting facts about tree buds:
- A tree bud contains the beginnings of a leaf, shoot, or flower.
- Trees make buds at the end of summer when they have lots of energy from the sun.
- Fall, when the leaves start to fall off the trees, is a good time to spot tree buds.
- The buds overwinter waiting for the warm days of spring to grow and eventually become leaves
and flowers.
- Some animals, such as squirrels and deer, eat tree buds when other food becomes scarce.
- Some insects feed on the tender tree buds.
Questions for observations:
- What color is the bud: red, brown, yellow?
- Does the bud have a cover? Is it smooth, have scales or fuzz?
- How does the cover help the bud during the winter months?
- Is there just one bud or multiple buds clustered together?
- What will come out of the bud: leaf or flower?
Copyright Anne Riechmann and Dawn Smith, Mud Puddles to Meteors, 2013
Ideas to take it further:
- Set aside a page in your nature journal, or make a small "bud" journal to record your observations.
- Choose a bud that is easy to observe, tie a small ribbon or string near the bud to mark the location for future observations.
- Make regular observations, drawing or photographing the bud to watch how it changes over time.
Space these observations appropriately for the season; in winter it will not change much but more
frequent observations will be necessary in the spring when things start to grow at a rapid rate.
- Buds can also be observed on perennial shrubs. This is a good time to observe annual plants that
have died back and gone to seed and compare them to the perennial shrubs with new buds forming
for spring growth.
Copyright Anne Riechmann and Dawn Smith, Mud Puddles to Meteors, 2013
Use these photos for nature journals, lap books, or plant reports.
Copyright Anne Riechmann and Dawn Smith, Mud Puddles to Meteors, 2013
Use these photos for nature journals, lap books, or plant reports.
Copyright Anne Riechmann and Dawn Smith, Mud Puddles to Meteors, 2013
word cloud
These words can be cut out and used for creating poetry, lap book projects,
nature journaling, or anything else you can imagine.
overwinter
tree
branch
bud
flower
leaf
spring
energy
Copyright Anne Riechmann and Dawn Smith, Mud Puddles to Meteors, 2013
summer
word scramble
Unscramble the words below to find hidden terms related to autumn tree
buds. The words you are looking for are in the box at the bottom of the
page.
rrveeonwit
dbu
smsolbo
eter
flea
gnrisp
llfa
nrcabh
ynegre
scrambled words
budleaf
blossombranch
treeoverwinter
springfall
energy
Copyright Anne Riechmann and Dawn Smith, Mud Puddles to Meteors, 2013
my plant fact sheet
autumn tree buds
what i know
what i ’ d like to find out
use this space for a photo or sketch of autumn tree buds
Copyright Anne Riechmann and Dawn Smith, Mud Puddles to Meteors, 2013