Evergreen Trees in Winter Worksheet Download

Look at that green tree in the snow! It is an evergreen tree like a Christmas tree. Its needles stay green all winter long.

Those needles wear a thin coat of wax. The wax keeps water inside each needle. That helps the evergreen tree stay alive in winter.

Winter snow can be heavy too. The branches tip down so the snow slides off. Then birds can snuggle inside a tree with a coat of wax!

Did you know some trees stay green all winter long? Pines, firs, and spruces are evergreens, so they keep their needles. Each thin needle has a waxy coat that holds in water.

That wax saves water, but what about all the heavy snow? The branches slope down, just like the roof of a house. Snow slides right off, so the branches do not break.

Those strong branches make cozy homes for animals too. Owls and squirrels hide under boughs, which are big branches. Wax, needles, and sloping branches turn one tree into a warm winter home!

Wow, some trees stay green even when snow covers the ground! Pines, firs, and spruces are evergreens, which means they keep their needles all year long. Each thin needle has a waxy coating, like a tiny raincoat, that helps hold water inside.

Since the needles stay all winter, you can tell these trees apart even in January! Pine needles grow in bundles, like little bunches of green sticks. A spruce needle is sharp and rolls between your fingers, but a fir needle is flat and soft.

Soft or sharp, those needles hang from branches that slope downward like a tent. Heavy snow slides right off, so the branches do not break. Inside, the tree's sap, a liquid that carries food, does not freeze easily.

While sap keeps the tree alive inside, its branches make a cozy home outside for animals. Chickadees, squirrels, and snowshoe hares find shelter from wind and snow under the branches. Next time you see a Christmas tree, touch a needle and remember its waxy raincoat!

Imagine you are walking through a quiet forest on a snowy December morning. The maples and oaks are bare, but the pines, firs, and spruces are still dressed in green! Trees that keep green leaves all year are called evergreens, and many families choose one for Christmas. How do they stay green in the freezing cold?

The secret to beating the cold is in their needles, which are leaves shaped like thin sticks. Each needle has a waxy coating like a raincoat, so very little water escapes. That matters because frozen ground makes it hard for roots to drink. Sap, the sticky liquid inside a tree, does not freeze easily, and a needle can stay on for several years!

A needle that stays for years must also survive heavy snow. Many evergreens have branches that slope downward, so snow slides off before it can break them. You can even play tree detective to tell them apart. A pine's needles grow in bundles, a spruce's are stiff and roll between your fingers, and a fir's are flat and soft.

Tree detectives are not the only visitors, because animals love evergreens, too. A chickadee, which weighs about as much as two or three nickels, tucks in to stay out of the wind. Deer rest beneath the branches, where the snow is thinner. So a snowy evergreen is a green tree in a wax raincoat, and maybe a winter hotel for birds and deer!

Picture a Colorado mountain forest on a January morning, with the wind howling and the snow piled deep. Most trees stand bare as brooms, yet pines, firs, and spruces wear thick green needles as if it were July. How do they stay green when everything else looks frozen? These trees are called evergreens, and they have three clever tricks for beating the cold.

Trick number one is hiding on every needle. Evergreen needles are narrow, so little water escapes, and a waxy coating helps hold moisture in. That matters because winter ground is frozen, and roots cannot easily drink. Trick number two is the sap, which holds sugars and other substances that keep it from freezing as easily as plain water.

Even with waxy needles and special sap, a tree still has to face winter's heaviest visitor: snow. Trick number three is the shape of the branches. On many evergreens, especially spruces and firs, the branches slope downward like the sides of a tent, so snow slides off before it piles up. Wet snow can be surprisingly heavy, and this shedding helps keep branches from snapping.

Once you know how evergreens shed snow, you can play tree detective with needles and cones. Pine needles grow in bundles of two, three, or five, depending on the kind of pine. Spruce needles are sharp and four-sided, so you can roll one between your fingers, and spruce cones hang down. Fir needles are flat and soft, and fir cones stand straight up like candles.

Between the needles and cones, those branches also make a cozy hideout, and animals know it. Chickadees tuck in for the night, and deer and snowshoe hares shelter beneath the boughs. Birds called red crossbills even use their crossed beaks to pry seeds out of cones. So when you see a glowing Christmas tree, remember its family stayed green through the snow with wax, special sap, and slanted branches.

Picture a forest after a snowstorm, where maples and oaks stand bare as skeleton fingers, yet the pines glow deep green as if winter forgot them. How can that be? Trees that keep their needles or leaves all year are called evergreens, and pines, firs, and spruces are the best-known kinds. Their secret is not magic but a set of clever survival tricks, and the first one is hiding in plain sight on every branch.

That hidden trick is the needle, which is really a leaf shaped for a cold, dry season. A wide leaf loses water quickly, but a thin needle has little surface for water to escape, and its waxy coating acts like a tiny raincoat. This matters because roots cannot drink much from frozen ground, so the tree must save every drop. Because needles waste so little, an evergreen keeps them for several years, dropping only the oldest a few at a time.

Saving water is only half the battle, so what stops the tree's sap from turning to ice? Evergreen sap holds sugars and other substances that work somewhat like antifreeze, so it resists freezing better than plain water does. Snow is heavy, though, so many spruces and firs have branches that slope downward and let snow slide off before it snaps them. Their cone-shaped outline acts like a steep roof on a snowy house.

Once you spot a snowy, roof-shaped tree, look closely at its needles to find out which kind it is. Pine needles grow in bundles, often of two, three, or five, joined at the base like a tiny bouquet. Spruce needles are sharp and four-sided, so you can roll one between your fingers, but fir needles are flat and soft. Cones give more clues, because spruce cones dangle downward while fir cones stand straight up on the branch like candles.

Those cones are more than clues, because their seeds are a winter feast for hungry wildlife. Red crossbills, small birds with beaks that cross at the tips, use those odd beaks like tweezers to pry out seeds. Chickadees tuck into thick branches to stay out of the wind, and snowshoe hares and deer find shelter beneath the sweeping boughs. Hundreds of years ago, families in Germany began decorating evergreens indoors for Christmas, and the waxy needles that beat blizzards also help a tree stay green in the living room.

Everybody knows that evergreens never lose their leaves, right? Not exactly! Pines, firs and spruces do drop needles, but they let go of only the oldest ones, a few at a time, so the tree always looks dressed in green. Picture a spruce on a January hillside, its dark branches drooping under a white blanket of snow while the maple beside it stands bare as a coat rack. That green survivor is running a clever winter plan, built from its needles, sap and shape.

Start with the needles, the first piece of that plan, because they are tougher than they look. Each one is long and narrow, so little water can escape, and it wears a waxy coat like a tiny raincoat. That matters because frozen ground locks up water, and a tree that loses moisture faster than it can replace it will dry out like a puddle on a hot sidewalk. Inside, sugars dissolved in the sap lower its freezing point, which helps keep sharp ice crystals from tearing the tree's living cells. Best of all, a needle may stay on its branch for several years, sparing the tree a yearly wardrobe change.

A tree that keeps its wardrobe must also carry the weight of winter, and that is where shape comes in. Wet snow is heavy, but the sloping limbs of a spruce or fir work like a steep roof and let it slide off. Once you know these tricks, you can tell the three trees apart with a quick touch. Fir needles are flat and soft, spruce needles are stiff, square and sharp enough to roll between your fingers, and pine needles usually grow in bundles of two, three or five. Cones give clues too: fir cones stand upright on the branch, while spruce cones dangle down.

Those dangling cones are more than name tags; they are pantries, and hungry visitors know it. Red squirrels cut down cones and stash them for the cold months. Can you picture a bird whose beak looks twisted on purpose? A red crossbill's crossed beak works like a built-in tool for prying seeds out of cones. Thick branches make cozy shelter too, so chickadees tuck in out of the wind and white-tailed deer often rest beneath evergreens, where snow is usually shallower.

A tree that shelters so many neighbors deserves our attention, and today evergreens still matter in big ways. A great belt of evergreen forest, called the boreal forest, stretches across northern North America, Europe and Asia. Many families who celebrate Christmas also bring a fir, spruce or pine into their homes, so these winter survivors brighten holidays as well as hillsides. I think the most impressive thing about evergreens is that their toughness comes from small, clever details rather than from size or strength. So when you pass a green tree in the snow, remember that its coat of wax is quietly guarding every drop of water it owns.

Imagine standing outside all winter with no coat, no house and no heater while the temperature sinks to -40 degrees, the one point where the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales agree. In the northern forests of Canada, Alaska and Russia, spruces and pines do exactly that, staying green while the maples around them stand bare. Snow settles on their branches like frosting on a cake, and the air smells of sharp, clean resin. In December, families carry firs, spruces and pines indoors as Christmas trees. How can a living thing that cannot go inside keep its leaves through such cold?

The answer starts with the needles, which are really leaves redesigned for winter. A needle is narrow, so it has little surface for losing water, and its thick, waxy coating seals in moisture the way a raincoat keeps rain out. That matters because winter is secretly a desert for trees: when soil freezes, roots cannot pull up water. Evergreens do shed needles, but only the oldest ones, and a tree may keep each needle for several years.

A needle that lasts for years must survive the freeze itself, and ice inside a living cell can tear it apart. Their wood helps, since conifers carry water through very narrow tubes that resist blockage by air bubbles when sap freezes and thaws. In autumn, evergreens also prepare by moving water out of their cells and building up sugars and other dissolved substances that work like antifreeze by lowering the freezing point of the liquid inside. Scientists call this preparation cold hardening, and a hardened spruce can survive weather that would harm the same tree in early autumn.

Surviving the cold is only half the challenge, because snow can pile up on branches until they bend and snap. Many spruces and firs grow as tall, narrow cones, and their flexible, downward-sloping branches let snow slide off before it gets too heavy. Animals notice this shelter: white-tailed deer gather beneath dense evergreens in deep winter, where branches block wind and catch snow so it lies shallower below. Small birds such as chickadees tuck into thick boughs to sleep, and red crossbills feed on seeds hidden in cones. The crossbill's beak crosses at the tip, a tool made for prying apart a cone's scales.

Those cones are also clues for anyone who wants to tell one evergreen from another. Pine needles grow in bundles of two, three or five, depending on the species, and the eastern white pine has five needles per bundle, one for each letter in white. Spruce needles are sharp and four-sided, so one rolls between your fingers, and spruce cones hang downward. Fir needles are flat and soft, and fir cones stand upright on the branch like candles. Many families choose firs for Christmas because their soft needles tend to hold on well after the tree is cut.

People valued that stubborn greenness long before anyone sold trees, hanging evergreen boughs indoors in midwinter as a sign that spring would return. By the 1500s, German families celebrating Christmas, when Christians honor the birth of Jesus, were setting up decorated evergreen trees in their homes. The custom spread slowly until 1848, when the Illustrated London News printed a picture of Queen Victoria's family gathered around a decorated tree. Printing presses carried the scene across the ocean, and by 1850 an American magazine had published a version of it. So when you breathe in the scent of a fresh fir in December, remember that its relatives stay green even at -40 degrees.

In the 1820s, a young Scottish botanist named David Douglas trekked into the damp forests of the Pacific Northwest and craned his neck at trees far taller than any he knew back home. He collected seeds, sent them across the ocean to Britain, and today the giant species is called the Douglas-fir in his honor. Here is the twist: botanists place it in its own genus, Pseudotsuga, which means "false hemlock," so it is not a true fir at all. Picture that tree in December, its dark needles wearing a coat of snow, and you can see why people have long lumped evergreens together. Sorting them out, though, reveals how these trees survive winters that leave most of their neighbors bare.

Bare is exactly how an oak or maple looks by December, so why do pines, firs, and spruces hold on to their needles? The answer begins with winter's hidden problem: when the ground freezes, roots struggle to draw up water, so a tree in January can face something like a drought. A needle is built for that trouble, because its narrow shape exposes little surface, and a thick waxy coating seals in most of its water. A wide, thin maple leaf would lose water far faster and is easily damaged by ice and heavy snow, which is one reason those trees drop theirs. Neither approach is simply better; each is a trade-off, since dropping leaves means rebuilding them every spring, while keeping needles means defending them all winter.

Wax and slim shapes solve only half the puzzle, though, because the fluid inside a tree can still freeze. In autumn, evergreens prepare through a process called hardening: sugars and other dissolved substances build up inside their cells, lowering the freezing point much as salt does on an icy road. Water also shifts into the spaces between cells, where ice can form without tearing the cells apart. Their wood helps too, since conifers move water through very narrow tubes that are less likely to be blocked by air bubbles when sap freezes and thaws. The payoff is dramatic: some conifers in northern forests survive temperatures of -40 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. That is far colder than the inside of your kitchen freezer!

Surviving that kind of cold is one challenge, but surviving a snowstorm is another, because heavy, wet snow can snap a branch. This is where the classic evergreen outline earns its reputation. Many spruces and firs have a pointed, cone-like shape, and their flexible branches slope downward, so snow slides off before it piles up. These spire-shaped trees are common in the far north and on high mountains, where snow is deepest, a pattern many scientists treat as strong evidence, though not proof, that the shape is an adaptation to snow. The careful wording matters: a pattern can suggest a cause without proving it, so researchers also study how branches bend and break.

That same sloping outline makes many evergreens look alike from a distance, so up close, needles and cones become your best clues. Fir needles are flat and soft, and each grows singly from the twig, leaving a smooth, round scar when it falls. Spruce needles are stiff, sharp, and four-sided, so you can roll one between your fingers, and each sits on a tiny woody peg. Pine needles grow in bundles of two, three, or five; eastern white pine has five per bundle, one for each letter in "white." Cones give further clues: fir cones stand upright on the branch and crumble apart there, while spruce cones dangle and fall whole. Tree lots at Christmastime often sell firs, partly because their needles tend to hold on well after cutting.

Once you can name a tree, you can start noticing who lives in it. In deep winter, white-tailed deer often gather in dense evergreen stands, where the thick canopy catches some of the snow and leaves the ground below shallower. Red squirrels feast on spruce and pine seeds, and red crossbills have beaks with crossed tips that are perfect for prying open cones. So the next time a Christmas tree glows in a window, remember that its forest cousins wear wax, run on sugar-rich sap, and host winter guests, and that the most famous fir of the Pacific Northwest isn't a true fir at all.