Signs of Spring: Observations for May

Today's Reminder Includes:

  • Outdoor Observations for May >>

  • Sunlight Through the Schoolyear >>

  • Year-end Evaluation: Please Share Your Thoughts >>
  • Resources to Explore >>
What's happening here? You decide! Click to enlarge >>
Photo: Wayne Kryduba
Outdoor Observations for May (and beyond!)
It's either midnight or noon in this place in North America! Where is it? >>
"We have to jump puddles to get around," write fifth graders in Palmer, AK. Toads trilling, bumblebees buzzing, dragonflies darting, and feathered-friends flitting to feeders! What clues tell you that spring has sprung in your hometown?

This is the last Signs of Spring update for the schoolyear, so now you're on your own! Continue to go outside and look, smell, feel, and listen carefully. Draw and write about your observations. And don't stop when the schoolyear ends. On June 21, the summer solstice, be sure to write or draw in your Signs of Spring journal, handout, or checklist.

As you look back at your observations, share your data, or create a giant timeline, look for interesting patterns. Try to track the same types of observations — such as when your first hummingbird arrives from year to year. That's how scientists discover new patterns in the natural world and learn how our changing climate affects living things.
Sunlight Through the Schoolyear: What's Happened?

Have you been tracking sunrise and sunset times, daylength, or shadows in your hometown? What have you noticed? You might not see much from day to day, but sunlight has changed dramatically through the school year. Let's take a look!

Imagine you're in space looking at Earth on the morning of May 1. >> [


How did the sun change? >>
Year-end Evaluation: Please Share Your Thoughts! >>
Will you take a few minutes to complete our Year-end Evaluation?

With your help, we can we document Journey North's reach, impact, and value. We need comments like yours to keep the program going and growing.

Thank you! >>

Year-end Evaluation >>

Resources to Explore
  • Student Journal: Signs of Spring >>
  • Handout: Watching the Seasons Change (gr. K-3) >>
  • Checklist: Signs of Spring (gr. 4+) >>
  • Report your spring observations! Choose the sighting or event that best fits! >>
  • Your Past Sightings: Journey North's Historic Records >>
  • Student Journal: Signs of Spring >>
  • Photo: Midnight or Noon? >>
  • Signs of Spring: Make a Giant Timeline! >>
  • Share: Exchange Observations with a Partner! >>
  • Teachers: Phenology and Journey North >>
  • Assessment Tools: Reasons for Seasons >>
Discover what else students in Midland, Michigan saw on the day their tulips bloomed! >>
This is the final Signs of Spring Update.
Thanks for participating. Please join us again in September!