About Trees LEVELED BOOK • P

About Trees
A Reading A–Z Level P Leveled Book
Word Count: 769

Written by Sherry Sterling

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About Trees
Photo Credits:
Cover, back cover, title page, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12 (bottom left), 14, 15: © ArtToday;
page 4: © Neale Clark/robertharding/Getty Images; page 9 (main):
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© iStockphoto.com/Peter Austin; page 13 (bottom): © Denys Prokofyev/123RF

Written by Sherry Sterling About Trees

Level P Leveled Book Correlation
© Learning A–Z LEVEL P
Written by Sherry Sterling
Fountas & Pinnell M
All rights reserved. Reading Recovery 28
www.readinga-z.com www.readinga-z.com
DRA 28
 Table of Contents People look tiny when standing next to giant sequoias.

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Introduction
Leaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Trees are the tallest living plants.
Branches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Redwood trees can grow as tall as a
Trunk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 30-story building. Giant sequoias can
Roots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 weigh as much as 3,000 large pickup
trucks, making them one of the heaviest
Sap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
living things. Trees also live a long time.
Seeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Many trees alive today were full-grown
Growing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 long before the United States became a
country. But these massive trees share
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 something with all plants—they make
Glossary/Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 their own food.

About Trees • Level P 3 4

 Leaves
Imagine being able to make
your own food without
cooking or even going to
a restaurant! Leaves make
food for trees by changing
energy from sunlight into deciduous

food. This important work

is done by chlorophyll
(KLOR-uh-fill), the green
coloring in leaves.

Leaves come in all shapes

and sizes. Most deciduous
(dee-SIJ-oo-us) trees have
wide, thin leaves, while
Yellow and brown leaves fall from this deciduous tree.
most conifers have
needlelike leaves. Conifers
conifer In the fall, the leaves of deciduous trees
keep their needles through
show their true colors. These true colors
all seasons. Only the oldest
are yellows, oranges, and browns, which
needles fall to the ground.
hide under green chlorophyll all spring
Deciduous trees lose their
and summer. We see these colors in the
leaves every fall.
fall after leaves stop making chlorophyll.

About Trees • Level P 5 6

 Branches Trunk
Branches are the arms that hold up a Tubes in the tree’s trunk carry water
tree’s leaves. Branches spread leaves out from the roots up to the leaves. They
to get as much sunlight as they can. The also carry sap, or food, down from the
leaves give shade to other living things leaves to the roots. These tubes are like
on sunny days. highways, carrying traffic back and
forth. They are close to the outside of
Branches start out as twigs, then they
the tree, just under the bark.
grow thicker each year. As a tree grows,
its bark cracks open so the branches and
trunk can expand. New bark is always
growing under the old, ready to protect
the tree. If new bark gets stripped away,
a tree can die.

branch leaves
twigs

trunk roots

Layers of bark protect trees.

About Trees • Level P 7 8

 active highways

old growth

bark

Tree roots reach deep into the ground.

sap
water
Roots
Trees need soil to keep growing. Roots
This hollowed out ash tree continues to grow. are part of the highways. They soak up
water and nutrients from the soil. Roots
also keep the soil in place when it rains.
A tree doesn’t need the middle of its
Without the roots of trees and plants,
trunk to live. The middle is made of
soil washes away.
rings of old growth, not active highways.
That’s why a tree can keep growing Trees are stuck in the soil because their
even if the middle is hollowed out after roots reach deep into the ground. It’s
a lightning strike. All it needs is enough a good thing they can make their own
bark to protect its highways. food, since they can’t move to get it.

About Trees • Level P 9 10

 Sap Seeds
Leaves use water plus sunlight and air Deciduous trees grow flowers, which
to make food for the tree. This food is make seeds that are inside fruit or nuts.
in the form of liquid sugars. Sometimes Conifers make cones instead of flowers.
people eat some kinds of tree sugars for The cones do the same job for conifers
food. You’ve probably had tree sugar that flowers do on other trees. They
for breakfast—pouring it over your make seeds to grow more trees. Each
pancakes or waffles. Have you guessed seed holds its own supply of food to
what tree sugar this is? It’s maple syrup, keep it alive until it’s ready to sprout.
and it comes from the food, or sap, of a
sugar maple tree. pine nuts

A bucket apple
collects seeds
sap from
a tap in a
maple tree.

apple fruit

pinecone

Pancakes
swim in
maple
syrup.

apple
blooms acorn

About Trees • Level P 11 12

 Growing Conclusion

How does a tall tree grow from a small While trees look like they aren’t doing
seed? The seed soaks up water until it much, they are working. They make
can send out a root. With more water, their own food by changing sunlight
leaves inside the seed case grow until and air into sugars. This helps keep
they push up and out. Once this has the air clean, too.
happened, we say the seed has sprouted.
Trees are homes and food for birds
Now the sprout can make its own food and other animals. Look to see which
and no longer needs the seed’s store of animals make homes in trees near your
energy. The seed leaves will make food home. Some
for the new sprout. animals,
including
humans, eat
sap, fruit, and
seeds from
seed leaves
trees. Others
eat bark and
leaves.

seed case

roots
Holes in trees
make safe homes
This shows how a sprout grows from a seed. for many owls.

About Trees • Level P 13 14

 Glossary
bark t he rough covering on a tree’s
branches and trunk (p. 7)
chlorophyll a material in green plants that
can turn water, air, and
sunlight into food (p. 5)
conifers t rees, such as pine and spruce,
with needle-like leaves (p. 5)
trees that lose their leaves in
deciduous 
the fall and grow them in the
spring (p. 5)
nutrients t hings from soil and food that
living things use to stay
healthy and grow (p. 10)
to keep something from harm
protect 
(p. 7)
sap t he liquid sugars trees make
for their food (p. 8)

Trees do many things. Tree leaves shade seed case the outer covering of a seed
(p. 13)
us on sunny days. They also shade new
sprout to begin growing (p. 12)
sprouts from the heat of the sun so they
won’t burn. Tree roots hold the soil in Index
chlorophyll,  5, 6 maple syrup,  11
place that trees and other plants need to
cones, 12 redwood, 4
grow. From saplings to mighty giants, fruit, 12, 14 sprout, 13
trees stand tall. giant sequoia,  4 sugar maple,  11

About Trees • Level P 15 16