What Makes a Tree 'Alive' or 'Dead'?

A tree is alive if it can grow and take care of itself, just like you when you're playing and eating.

Imagine a tree is like your favorite toy that can move on its own. When a tree is alive, it drinks water from the ground through special tubes called roots, kind of like how you drink juice through a straw. It also takes in sunlight through its leaves, which helps it make food inside, just like how you need to eat to have energy.

When a tree is dead, it can’t do these things anymore. Its leaves might fall off, and it doesn’t grow new ones. It’s like your toy that stops moving, you still see it, but it doesn’t play with you anymore.

You can tell if a tree is alive by looking at its leaves. If they are green and stay on the tree, it's probably alive. If they turn brown or fall off and don’t come back, that tree might be dead, like your favorite toy that doesn't work anymore.

Sometimes trees look dead from far away, but if you touch them gently, you can feel a little life in them, just like how sometimes you feel tired but still want to play.