E. Earth and Space Systems · Daily and Seasonal Changes

Plants and Animals Through the Seasons

E2.5 E1.2 A3.3About 35 minutes

Learning goals

I can describe how trees and plants change through the seasons.
I can describe ways animals change their bodies or behaviour to get through winter.
I can explain how seasonal changes affect the natural environment.
I can share how First Nations have made maple syrup in early spring.

Words to know

migrate
To travel far away for a season and come back later, like geese flying south.

hibernate
To go into a very deep sleep for most of the winter, like a groundhog.

adaptation
A change in an animal's or plant's body or behaviour that helps it survive.

evergreen
A tree that stays green all year, like a pine or spruce.

sap
The watery juice inside a tree. Maple sap is boiled to make maple syrup.

store
To keep something to use later.

Where did the geese go?

In the fall, you might hear honking in the sky and see a big V of Canada geese flying overhead. Where are they going?

Many of them are flying south, to places where it is warmer in winter and they can find food.

Animals and plants all have ways to deal with the seasons. Let's find out how!

A line of Canada geese flying across a blue sky above red, orange and yellow fall trees. — Canada geese fly south in the fall, when the maple leaves turn red, orange and yellow. Both the birds and the trees are getting ready for winter. AI-generated image

Trees through the year

A maple tree changes a lot:

Spring: Buds open and tiny new leaves grow. Sap flows up the trunk.
Summer: The tree is full of big green leaves that use sunlight to make food.
Fall: The leaves turn red, orange and yellow and fall to the ground.
Winter: The branches are bare. The tree rests until spring.

Dropping leaves helps the maple tree get through the cold, dry winter.

Evergreen trees, like pine and spruce, keep their needles all winter. Their needles are thin and waxy, which helps them survive the cold.

A maple tree through the year. In spring buds open, in summer it is full of green leaves, in fall the leaves turn red, orange and yellow and drop, and in winter the branches are bare.

🌱🌳🍁🌲

Spring buds, a green summer tree, a red fall maple leaf, and an evergreen that stays green in winter.

How animals get ready for winter

Winter is hard for animals. It is cold, and food is hard to find. Animals have different adaptations.

What they do	Animals that do it	How it helps
migrate (travel to a warmer place)	many Canada geese, monarch butterflies, robins	they go where it is warmer and there is food
hibernate or sleep deeply	groundhogs, black bears (sleep in a den most of the winter)	they rest and use less energy when food is scarce
store food	squirrels, chipmunks	they have food to eat when snow covers the ground
grow a thicker or different coat	deer, foxes; the snowshoe hare turns white	they stay warm, and a white coat hides the hare in snow
stay still in a safe spot	frogs and turtles in mud or under leaves	they are protected from the coldest air
stay active all winter	chickadees, blue jays, cardinals	they fluff their feathers to keep warm and find seeds

Animal adaptations for winter

Monarch butterflies

Monarch butterflies from Ontario fly all the way to Mexico for the winter. That is thousands of kilometres for an insect that weighs less than a paper clip!

Maple syrup season

In late winter and early spring, the days get warmer but the nights are still freezing. This makes the sap in maple trees flow.

First Nations peoples, such as the Anishinaabe and the Haudenosaunee, were the first to collect maple sap and boil it down to make maple syrup and maple sugar, long before Europeans came to North America. They noticed this seasonal change and used it. Many families and communities still celebrate the maple sugar season today.

Seasons change the environment

Seasons affect the whole natural environment:

In spring, melting snow fills rivers and ponds. Some places flood.
In summer, plants grow and many animals raise their babies.
In fall, fallen leaves cover the ground. They rot and make the soil rich.
In winter, ponds and lakes freeze. Snow covers the ground like a blanket, which helps keep small animals and plant roots under it from freezing even more.

Worked example

Let's sort animals by what they do in winter

Sort these animals: Canada goose, groundhog, red squirrel, snowshoe hare.

Canada goose: many fly south. That is migrating.
Groundhog: goes into a deep winter sleep in its burrow. That is hibernating.
Red squirrel: gathers and stores pine cones and seeds to eat in winter.
Snowshoe hare: grows a white coat so it is hard to see in the snow.

Migrate: goose. Hibernate: groundhog. Store food: squirrel. Change coat: snowshoe hare.

Worked example

Let's think like a tree

Why does a maple tree drop its leaves in fall?

In winter, the ground is frozen, so the tree can't get much water.
Big leaves lose water and would be damaged by freezing.
So the tree drops its leaves and rests through the winter.
In spring, when it is warm again, new leaves grow.

Dropping leaves is an adaptation that helps the maple tree survive winter.

Just for fun

A true and amazing fact: in winter, the wood frog can freeze almost solid under the leaves. Its heart even stops! In spring it thaws out and hops away.

Hands-on activity

Seasons nature walk

You need: a bag, paper and crayons.

Go for a walk in a park or your yard with a grown-up.
Look for signs of the season. In fall: coloured leaves, seeds, geese. In winter: animal tracks in snow, bare trees, evergreens. In spring: buds, worms, robins. In summer: green leaves, insects, flowers.
Collect one fallen thing (a leaf, a pine cone, a seed). Do not pick living plants.
Draw one plant and one animal you saw. Write or tell how the season is changing them.
Bonus: Choose one tree. Take its picture or draw it in each season this year and compare!

Your turn

What happens to maple leaves in the fall?

What does migrate mean?

Name an animal that hibernates.

How do squirrels get ready for winter?

Why does a snowshoe hare turn white in winter?

Name a tree that stays green in winter.

Who first made maple syrup from maple sap?

More practice: warm-up

In which season do new leaves grow?

Where do many Canada geese go in winter?

What covers the ground in winter in much of Ontario?

What do chickadees do to keep warm?

In which season do ponds freeze?

More practice: on your own

Why do some birds migrate but chickadees stay?

How does snow help some small animals in winter?

What happens to fallen leaves over time?

Why does maple sap flow in early spring?

How do melting snow and spring rain change rivers?

Challenge

A black bear eats lots of berries and nuts in the fall. Why?

If winter came but a snowshoe hare stayed brown, what might happen?

Choose one animal. Tell how it changes in spring.

Check your understanding

Quiz

What do many Canada geese do in the fall?

What does a groundhog do in winter?

Which tree keeps its needles in winter?

Which animal turns white in winter?

Maple sap flows best when...

Why do squirrels bury nuts in the fall?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Plants and animals have adaptations to seasonal change: migrating, hibernating, storing food, changing coats, dropping leaves (E2.5). Seasonal change also affects the wider natural environment: flooding, freezing, soil, food (E1.2).

How to help: Take seasonal nature walks and look for signs of the season. Watch for geese, squirrels and tracks in the snow. If you can, visit a maple sugar bush in March or April; many conservation areas in Ontario hold maple syrup events.

Indigenous perspectives: First Nations peoples, including the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee, developed maple sugaring and continue it today. Present this as knowledge and a living tradition, not only as history.

Accuracy notes: Black bears are often described as hibernating; scientists sometimes call their winter state a lighter kind of hibernation, because they can wake more easily. "Sleep in a den most of the winter" is accurate. Not all Canada geese migrate; some stay in cities all winter.

Common difficulties: Thinking all animals hibernate. Use the table to show many different strategies.