2019 Fall Foliage Map - And Why Leaves Change Color

The 2019 Fall Foliage Prediction Map is a feature of the SmokyMountains.com website. The map displays a week-by-week prediction of when leaves in the continental United States will be changing colors from now through the end of November. You can see the predictions change by moving the timeline at the bottom of the map.

On the same page as the 2019 Fall Foliage Prediction Map there is a graph of average temperatures in the United States since 1900. The graph is accompanied by a short explanation of why leaves change colors in the fall and the relationship to air temperatures.

Applications for Education
The 2019 Fall Foliage Prediction Map doesn't tell the whole story of why leaves change colors at different times in different parts of the country. I'd use the incomplete nature of the map's explanation as a jumping-off point for students to hypothesize and investigate why leaves change colors at different times in different parts of the country. I might also have them investigate why some trees have brighter leaves than others in the fall. 

Additional Resources for Teaching and Learning About Fall Foliage
A couple of weeks ago I shared a couple of good videos that explain why leaves change colors in the fall. Those videos are included below.



For an explanation of why leaves change colors that elementary school students can understand, watch the following SciShow Kids video.

Practical Ed Tech Podcast - Episode #6 Featuring Dr. Scott McLeod

In the last episode of the Practical Ed Tech Podcast I mentioned that I had recently spoken with Dr. Scott McLeod about his new book, co-authored with Julie Graber, Harnessing Technology for Deeper Learning. I was going to wait a few more days before publishing the conversation as a podcast, but I couldn't wait. So here it is.

I've known Scott for ten years or more. He's one of the people in the educational technology space that I've always looked up to and trusted for good advice. Our conversation for the podcast ranged beyond just talking about his new book.

You might not be familiar with Scott's written work, but there's a good chance you've seen the video that he did with Karl Fisch, Did You Know; Shift Happens. I kicked off the conversation by asking him, "what's changed since Did You Know; Shift Happens was published twelve years ago?" Give the podcast a listen to hear his response.


The Practical Ed Tech Podcast can be heard on Anchor.fm, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Radio Public, Breaker, and Pocket Casts. And you can find the RSS feed for it here.

The Week in Review - The Most Popular Posts

Good morning from Maine where it is a little overcast so I thought I'd cheer things up by sharing this picture of a bright flower I saw this week.

As I do at this time every weekend, I have put together a short list of the most popular posts of the last week. This list is based on total views during the previous seven days. Take a look and see if there are any interesting things that you might have missed.

These were the week's most popular posts:
1. Ten Google Product Updates for Teachers to Note
2. How to Avoid the Google Calendar Scheduling Mistake I Keep Making
3. How to Create and Distribute Google Docs Templates
4. Knoword Offers Fun Vocabulary and Spelling Games
5. Fossils 101 - And How Scientists Know What Color Dinosaurs Were
6. ClassHook Adds Live Discussions for Video Lessons
7. These Cool Cats Will Teach You About Phrasal Verbs

A New On-demand Professional Development Course
This week I launched a new on-demand version of my popular Getting Going With G Suite course. You can sign-up now and complete it at your pace.

Thank You for Your Support!

• More than 375 of you have participated in a Practical Ed Tech webinar this year. Thank you!
• Pixton is a fantastic tool for students to use to create digital stories. Get started by using their free "Truth or Lie" lesson plan. 
• PrepFactory offers free, personalized SAT and ACT prep. 
• University of Maryland, Baltimore County has been supporting this blog for many years.

Other Places to Follow My Work

Besides FreeTech4Teachers.com and the daily email digest, there are other ways to keep up with what I'm publishing. 

• Practical Ed Tech Newsletter - This comes out once per week (Sunday night/ Monday morning) and includes my tip of the week and a summary of the week's most popular posts from FreeTech4Teachers.com.
• My YouTube Channel - More than 15,000 are subscribed to my YouTube channel for my regular series of tutorial videos including more than 300 Google tools tutorials. 
• Facebook - The FreeTech4Teachers.com Facebook page has nearly 450,000 followers. 
• Twitter - I've been Tweeting away for the last twelve years at twitter.com/rmbyrne
• Instagram - this is mostly pictures of my kids, my dogs, my bikes, my skis, and fly fishing.