The Tree Book Preview

Discover the amazing world of trees with incredible See−through pages!

The Tree Book Hannah Alice

What is a tree?

This book is all about trees – from their leaves to their roots – and all the incredible things that they can do!

Trees are huge plants that can grow as tall as 20 giraffes. They grow in all kinds of places, from tiny gardens to thick woodlands, and they can live for thousands of years!

All trees have the same four parts: roots, trunk, branches and leaves.

They are always working together, just like a machine.

Trees are growing and changing all year round.

Each part of a tree has an important job to do and helps the tree to stay alive and grow.

Flowers and leaves

In spring, green buds become new leaves and some trees grow flowers.

Fruit and seeds

In summer, trees are covered with leaves and start to grow fruit.

Minibeasts

Trees are home to many different types of minibeast that eat the leaves and fruit.

Animal homes

Birds and mammals make their homes in, on and under trees too.

Autumn LEAVES

In autumn, the leaves on some trees change colour and fall, and fruit is ready to eat.

ROOTS

Roots soak up water from the ground to help the tree grow.

Trunk and bark

The outside layer of the tree trunk is called bark and protects the inside.

Turn the page to see how each part of a tree works!

from seed to tree

If a seed lands in soil in a warm place with enough light, it starts to grow into a new tree.

First, the seed gets bigger and the hard case splits open.

Then, a tiny root pokes out to drink up water from the soil.

The first root sprouts

Next, a little green shoot pushes up through the soil.

A shoot becomes a seedling when it’s above ground

1. Sapling

1

Once the first leaves grow in the sunlight, the new plant can start to make its own food using photosynthesis.

The seedling grows

When a seedling has grown over one metre tall, it is known as a sapling.

If the young tree has enough space and light, it will keep growing. It can take some trees over 100 years to reach their full height and some have trunks that can keep growing wider for 600 years!

new leaves

Trees are always changing, and many trees look different in every season. In springtime, trees can grow because days are longer and the weather is warmer.

1

After a dark, cold winter, the green buds swell and open up and turn into fresh green leaves.

2

1. Bud 2. Leaf Many different types of fruit grow on trees

It can take a few years for a sapling to start growing flowers

A tree can grow thousands of seeds

It’s important for trees to keep making new trees as they grow. They do this by growing flowers, fruits and seeds.

flowers and pollen

Most flowers have two parts – female and male. The female part makes tiny eggs and the male part makes pollen.

The pollen and the eggs from different flowers join up so the eggs can ripen into seeds. This is called fertilisation.

In spring, a tree spreads its pollen from flower to flower so that new trees can grow.

1

Catkins are long, drooping flowers

Some trees have tiny flowers and their pollen is blown on the wind. Some trees have large, pretty flowers, which attract insects.

1. Flowers

Flowers sometimes smell sweet so they attract more hungry bees

Bees visit flowers to drink their sweet liquid, called nectar. The pollen inside the flower rubs off on the fuzzy body of the bee, which then rubs off and fertilises the next flower the bee visits.

This means that the tree can now grow seeds.

Leaves and photosynthesis

Trees need their own food to grow too. They use a special process called photosynthesis, which needs sunlight, water and a gas called carbon dioxide.

Light from the sun Water from the soil

Carbon dioxide and water from the air

Green leaves soak up light from the sun.

Trees have thousands of leaves to catch as much sunlight as possible.

They use this light energy to help them mix water and carbon dioxide. This makes sugar which becomes the tree’s food.

Leaves also produce oxygen during photosynthesis.

Without trees and other plants, there wouldn’t be any oxygen for humans and animals to breathe.

Veins usually branch out from the stalk of the leaf

All leaves have tiny veins running through them. They carry a sweet liquid called sap containing energy and food to the rest of the tree. Each type of tree has leaves with a different shape. They can have wiggly or straight edges.