Science Sunday (on Monday): Leaf Anatomy

I decided that I would make every Sunday's post about science. One of the reasons why I love learning about science is the simple fact that every detail and part of this world that God designed is so intricate and amazing! Yesterday was Sunday, but a different post came to mind, today will be considered 'Science Sunday'. 

Below is a picture of a generic internal structure of a leaf. When I think of leaves, I think of thin, and delicate structures. Probably people think of the veins in each leaf but there are many other components that allow trees to remain alive and healthy. 

So we have the veins. These are what carries nutrients that is produced in the leaves to the rest of the tree. They also pump water into the leaf. 

Surrounding the veins and composing the majority of the leave's internal structure are chloroplasts. These little guys use a series of chemical reactions to produce energy for the organism (tree, plant etc.). The chloroplasts are able to harness the energy from sunlight and create glucose to be used by the plant for energy. There are light dependent and light independent reactions. This is so that the leaf can produce things during the day (using sunlight) and also during the nighttime (without sunlight). 

There are also many different components of the leaf that are not depicted in this drawing but I would like to mention one of my favorite leaf tid-bits. Leaves have stoma (which are pores). The cool think about these pores are that during the night time they are open to collect water and dew from the outside environment for the leaf. In the daytime, they close so that a minimal amount of water is lost due to evaporation etc. 

So, if that little overview of how a leaf works didn't blow your mind, think through this. All of those structures are within one leaf. Now think about how many leaves are on one single tree. (I can't even wrap my mind around that). Now, if you were able to get through that one, buckle up. Now, think about how many trees are in your town, or a park by you, or some area where there is more than one tree. (I grew up in Maine so there are quite a few trees just about anywhere you turn) A good way to be overwhelmed by this is to look at the side of a hill or mountain. SO MANY TREES! Each with a mind blowing amount of leaves on them too! Ok, so if you still aren't impressed, now, think about how many different types of trees there are! Or even how many different plants have leaves. And to top it off, how many plants/trees are on earth!!!! Phew! God is such an artist! I hope when you are out and about today that you see at least one tree and think about how intricately God made a single leaf! : )