This essay mixes the creative and scientific aspects of the changing colors of leaves. The essay is very descriptive and the author found a way to explain a scientific process so that readers can understand and appreciate it fully. The Philippines does not experience four seasons, so we do not get to see first hand how leaves change color in the fall, no matter how badly we want to. However, the vivid descriptions in this essay is enough to give an image of fall and the process it undergoes.
Leaves get their green color from a pigment called chlorophyll. During the summertime, leaves store up energy and food with the help of sunlight. But during autumn, there is not enough sunlight to for the leaves to keep up their usual processes, including the production of chlorophyll. That is why the leaves slowly change from green to reddish brown. They eventually fall off because the nutrients that are supposed to be used to keep them alive are being conserved for the trunk and roots of the tree.
This piece is very enlightening and informative. I am sure many people enjoy the beauty of the leaves turning color and falling off. There have been numerous movie scenes where kids would jump on piles off fallen leaves. But knowing the processes and reasons why these things happen makes people appreciate it more. The changing of colors and the falling of leaves during autumn is part of nature and of life, and life always has a reason.
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