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Tulips

Tulip Garden Update: April 27, 1998

Today's Update Includes:

Tulip Garden News & Data

Spring's Progress
as of April 27, 1998

Spring has traveled so far that this week only 10 gardens report emerging tulips--and 68 new gardens are in bloom! Among them are these:

"Our best Earth Day present came from our delightful Journey North tulip garden which bloomed for us today!" wrote Mrs. Conroy on April 22nd. "Now we are waiting for the tulips to bloom in my garden up in Madoc, ON (that's 45 km north of the school). They are up--but they haven't bloomed yet!" (conroys@post.kosone.com)

From across the Atlantic came this news from Germany (49.45 N, 7.75 W): "This year's tulips FINALLY bloomed on April 17. Last year's tulips were blooming by April 1, but this year's were still just green buds. We had warm weather the first week in April, and we thought they would bloom during Spring Break (April 4-11). But we had cold weather all of Spring Break, and it even snowed! So now our school is full of blazing red patches of tulips."

Discussion of Challenge Question #7
Curious results were reported in our April 10th update, so we asked you to consider the cause.

Challenge Question # 7 asked, "Why do you think the Scotland garden (60.52 N) bloomed at roughly the same time that gardens in Fairlee, Vermont (43.91 ), White Bear Lake, Minnesota (45.09 ) and Winifred, Montana (47.63) were just emerging?"
The Gulf Stream Carrying Warm Water Toward Europe
by Purdue University

Due to el Nino, we've heard a lot about ocean currents this year. However the Gulf Stream is probably the most well-known current in the oceans. As this map shows, warm water from the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico are carried northward to Europe by the Gulf Stream--directly to our tulip garden in Scotland!

Despite the big difference in latitude, notice that ocean temperatures yesterday near Scotland are similar those in the mid-Atlantic States. Thanks to the Gulf Stream, Northern Europe's growing season is much longer than Canada's, even though both regions are found at the same latitudes and receive the same amount of sunlight.


Satellite Image of the Gulf Stream by RSMAS

Notice where the warm currents leave the U.S. coastline.
Can you answer Challenge Question #9?

Look carefuly at this map of the Gulf Stream. Can you find the region along the U.S. coast where the Gulf Stream veers off toward Europe? Next see if you can answer this question:

Challenge Question #9
"Based on tulip garden data, do you think the Gulf Stream also affected tulip growth rates in North America? Which states did you investigate to answer this question?"

(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions at the end of this report.)

The WWW is full of information about the Gulf Stream, including great activities for students such as these:

Are Your RED Emperor Tulips YELLOW!?
Many people were surprised this spring when their tulips bloomed! We sent out an alert last September which many people seem to have missed.

Due to disease in Holland, there was evidently a shortage of RED Emperor tulips last fall. Therefore, our supplier encouraged people to order early-- When their supply was exhausted, they explained they would have to substitute colors.

Official Tulip Garden in Pequot Lakes, MN in Bloom!

We had hoped to help schools by recommending a single source, so you can imagine our frustration when this occurred. We were sorry to hear from people who were disappointed when their tulips bloomed this spring. Let's hope for a better RED Emeperor growing season in Holland this year!

By the way, we were told all colors of "Emperor" tulips should bloom at the same time, regardless of color. In our garden, yellow tulips bloomed 2 days earlier than the orange. We're curious to know:

Challenge Question # 10
"Is it true that all 'Emperor' tulips bloom at the same time, regardless of color? What did you discover? How do you interpret the results?"

How to Respond to Today's Challenge Questions

Please answer only ONE question in each message.

1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-tulip@learner.org

2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question # 9 (or #10)

3. In the body of your message, answer the question above.

The Next Tulip Garden Update Will be Posted on May 8, 1998

Copyright Journey North 1998. All Rights Reserved