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THE PHYSICAL EDITION

Leaves and Lines

Vince traces a fallen leaf, feels the bumps underneath and makes a rubbing to keep its pattern. Compare rounded and pointed leaves, follow their different vein arrangements, and notice how leaves on one tree can vary.

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Explore the science

Recording an outlinePages 1–2

Vince picks up a fallen leaf and follows its outside edge with a pencil on paper. An outline records the leaf’s outside shape. It does not capture every detail inside that boundary.

Ask together: Which parts of the leaf does the pencil go around?

Looking at both surfacesPages 3–4

The paper has only an outline. Vince turns the leaf over and touches a raised vein. A leaf has a vein pattern as well as an outside edge. The larger veins on this leaf stand out on its underside.

Ask together: What can Vince feel that his outline does not show?

Making a rubbingPages 5–6

Vince covers the leaf with paper on his closed notebook, then rubs a brown wax crayon sideways across the sheet. The crayon leaves more colour on the paper where it rests against raised features. Thin paper, a firm backing and gentle rubbing help reveal the pattern; some leaves work better than others.

Ask together: Which details appear in the brown rubbing?

Comparing leaf edges and veinsPages 7–8

Vince compares a rounded-lobed oak leaf with a pointed maple leaf. The oak’s veins branch from a middle line; the maple’s main veins spread from near its stalk. These two leaves differ in both their outlines and their vein arrangements. Comparing several features tells us more than looking at one feature alone.

Ask together: Where do the large lines on each leaf begin?

Variation and resemblancePages 9–10

Vince looks at differently sized leaves attached to one branch, then holds his fallen leaf nearby to compare their rounded lobes. Leaves can vary on the same tree. Similar shapes are useful clues, but resemblance alone cannot prove where a fallen leaf came from.

Ask together: What looks alike, and what looks different, among these leaves?

Records and real objectsPages 11–12

Vince leaves both real leaves beside the tree and takes the oak outline and rubbing with him in his notebook. A drawing or rubbing can keep selected details when the real object stays behind. Each kind of record shows some features more clearly than others.

Ask together: What is Vince taking home, and what is staying by the tree?

Sources and evidence

  1. The selected oak leaf has rounded lobes; the selected maple leaf has pointed lobes. These leaves have different outlines.

    Oregon State University, Quercus alba

    Oregon State University, Acer saccharum

    Arnold Arboretum, Marginalia (6 November 2016)

    The illustrated white-oak and sugar-maple leaves are examples. Individual leaves vary, and these shapes are not rules for every oak or maple.

  2. A leaf has an internal vein pattern as well as an outer outline. On the selected leaf the larger underside veins are raised enough to feel.

    University of Florida IFAS, How to Identify a Tree

    Forestry England, Exploring natural materials – forest art

    Relief and visibility differ among leaves. Choose a safe, supple fallen leaf with raised veins when looking or feeling with a grown-up.

  3. A side-held wax crayon rubbed over thin paper resting on a vein-up leaf can record its raised pattern. The brown mark is crayon on paper, not green material moving out of the leaf.

    Forestry England, Exploring natural materials – forest art

    Deschutes Land Trust, Fall Craft Idea: Leaf Rubbings!

    Use thin paper, a firm flat backing and gentle side-rubbing with a wax crayon. Thick paper, brittle leaves or weak relief can give faint or broken results. The colour comes from the crayon, not from the leaf.

  4. The oak example has one prominent midvein with side branches; the maple example has several prominent veins spreading from near the stalk.

    University of Florida IFAS, How to Identify a Tree

    Oregon State University, Quercus alba

    Oregon State University, Acer saccharum

    The illustrations emphasize major veins. Finer networks need not appear in a rubbing; no moving liquid is visible.

  5. Leaves attached to one tree can differ in size while sharing useful shape and vein features. A resemblance is a clue, not proof of where a fallen leaf originated.

    Kew Grow Wild, What leaves reveal about wildflowers

    Oregon State University, Quercus alba

    University of Florida IFAS, How to Identify a Tree

    Resemblance gives clues, not proof of a fallen leaf’s origin. Use several features and a local guide for identification.

  6. Veins support the leaf and transport water and other materials while it is part of the living plant.

    Kew Grow Wild, What leaves reveal about wildflowers

    Veins help support a living leaf and transport water and other materials. A detached-leaf rubbing records surface shape; it does not demonstrate transport.

Water and Wind

Water and Wind, pages 1–2: Wind moves the pinwheel.

Spread 1 / 12

Wind tickles my cheek. Round goes my pinwheel.

Explore the science

Wind & forcesPages 1–2

Wind moves the pinwheel. Wind is moving air. Vince feels it on his cheek and sees it push the pinwheel's angled blades.

Ask together: What tells you that the air is moving?

Currents & eddiesPages 3–4

Water passes the rock. A leaf circles behind it. Most water passes the rock; some circles back in an eddy. Laminar flow is orderly; turbulence is irregular, mixing motion. A swirl alone cannot distinguish them.

Ask together: How does the leaf move compared with the water passing the rock?

Waves & energyPages 5–6

Waves spread from the stream. The duck bobs. The falling stream makes waves that carry energy outward and make the toys bob. The stream's current also carries toys along. Bobbing and drifting are different motions.

Ask together: What moves up and down? What moves along the pond?

BuoyancyPages 7–8

A duck floats. A pebble sinks. Water pushes upward on both objects. This buoyancy balances the duck's weight, but not the pebble's. The pebble's splash makes the rings on the next spread.

Ask together: Where is each object compared with the surface?

When waves meetPages 9–10

Two wave patterns approach one another. When gentle waves overlap, their heights add, briefly raising or lowering the surface. This interference does not erase the waves; they continue through one another.

Ask together: What might happen where the two patterns meet?

Surface tensionPages 11–12

Tiny dents appear beneath the strider’s legs. Surface tension helps support the strider where its water-repellent legs dent the water. The duck floats mainly by displacing water.

Ask together: What do you notice where its legs meet the water?

Suction & pressurePages 13–14

The duck bubbles, fills and squirts. Squeeze underwater: air bubbles out. Release with the opening submerged: the elastic duck springs back, lowering pressure inside. The surrounding water pressure pushes water in. Squeeze above water: water exits through that same opening.

Ask together: What changes when Vince squeezes and then lets go?

Lift & gravityPages 15–16

A paper plane glides forward and down. The throw starts the plane moving. Airflow around its wings produces lift and turns air downward. Gravity pulls down; drag resists motion. In still air, the plane glides forward and gradually descends.

Ask together: Where might the plane go next?

ViscosityPages 17–18

Milk runs. Honey stretches into a thread. Honey's greater viscosity means greater resistance to flow. It makes a slow thread while milk runs readily. Temperature and pouring method also matter; this snack is an observation, not a controlled test.

Ask together: How do the milk and honey move differently?

Draining & swirlingPages 19–20

Foam curves inward toward the drain. Gravity drives water through the drain. Existing turning motion can become a curved inward flow, traced by foam. Here water travels to the outlet, unlike waves crossing the pond. Not every drain swirls.

Ask together: Can you follow the foam toward the drain?

Scientific observationPages 21–22

Vince sketches what he noticed. Vince records something he noticed. Drawings, marks or words let him return to an observation. He does not need all the answers.

Ask together: Which earlier picture matches one of his drawings?

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