Why Do Fallen Leaves Change Color?

Leaves start green because of a special ingredient called chlorophyll that helps trees eat sunlight. When summer ends and days get shorter, the tree stops making this green stuff so it can save its energy for winter. As the green fades away, other colors that were hiding underneath show up!

Carrots are orange because of carotenoids, and those same pigments live in leaves all year round but are just covered by the heavy green blanket.

Some trees actually make new red paint called anthocyanins when the sun is bright but the nights are chilly. It acts like sunscreen for the leaf while it slowly falls off to feed the soil below.