In warm months, most leaves are one color. But when cold months come, something beautiful happens. Leaves turn many colors. Why does this happen?

One color in leaves comes from something inside them. This thing helps leaves use light from the sun. Leaves use sun light, air, and water to make food. Big things that grow need this food to live.

This one color is very strong in warm months. There are other colors in leaves too, but we cannot see them. The first color is too strong. It covers the other colors.

When cold months come, days get short. There is less sun light each day. The air gets cold too. Big things that grow know that very cold days are coming. There will be very little light. The land will be hard and cold. It will be difficult to get water.

These big things get ready for very cold days. They stop making food in their leaves. When this happens, the first color goes away. Now we can see the other colors that were always there. These colors were in the leaves all along, but the first color covered them.

Some leaves also turn another color. This color is different. It is made when cold months come. When the first color goes away and days get cold, this happens. Not all big things do this. We are not completely sure why this happens.

After a few weeks, all the color goes away. The leaves turn dark. Then they fall down. There will be no leaves in very cold months. This is good. Without leaves, there is no need for much water or food. Everything can wait for warm days to come again.

When warm days come back, new leaves will grow. They will have that first color again. The same thing will happen every year.