 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Tulip Garden Update: February 22, 2002
Today's Report Includes:
- BINGO! Red Marks the Spot in South Carolina
- Get Out Your Ice Cream Pails!
- Grappling with Growth: Students Investigate Microclimate
- Challenge Question #4
- Comparing: Spring 2002 vs 2001: Challenge Question #5
- Comparing 3 Years Emerge Maps: Discussion of Challenge Question #1
- Teacher Tip! Collecting Data Over the Years
- Create a Garden Weather Station!
- Sharing the Excitement
- How Long Does it Take a Tulip to Grow?
- Challenge Question #6
- Losing Count? Try This!
- Cold, Tender Tulips? Discussion of Challenge Question #3
BINGO! Red Marks the Spot in South Carolina
|
|
Did YOU predict that South Carolina would be our blooming winner in 2002?
Get Out Your Ice Cream Pails!
 |
"We are excited about our tulips coming up...and a little worried that it's too early for them to be up and out of the ground. Our nights are still very cold, but we'll protect them with upside down ice cream pails with a heavy rock on top!"
Grappling with Growth: Students Investigate Microclimate
Students in Sappington School's LEAP program in St. Louis, MO have been tracking temperatures in their tulip garden this year. Weather data including soil and air temperatures have been collected at their garden each Wednesday since planting day, 11/07/01. Investigations have uncovered some interesting facts to help them understand plant growth:
- Last year's tulips emerged on April 4th.
- This year the tulips appeared on February 6th.
Soil Temperatures:
- During school hours, soil temperatures have dropped below 32F only once since January 1st.
- Their highest soil temp. since January 1st was 55 degrees.
Air Temperatures:
- Their weekly air temp. low has only reached 33F once.
- Their air temp. high since January 1st was 74F.
Challenge Question #4
"What information would you need to know to find out if this is a normal spring for St. Louis, MO? If this is an earlier than normal spring, what kinds of problems might arise with the plants?"
(To respond to these questions, please
follow the instructions below.)
Comparing: Spring 2002 vs 2001
Each spring we are delighted and amazed with the effects of the sun's energy. A favorite quote from both spring 2001, AND this spring has been, "It seems unusually warm this winter." And indeed, in some places, we have set records for the warmest December or January. But how is this weather affecting the flush of spring across the continent? As measured by Journey North gardens, we can have an insiders look at the two years on the same map.
 |
2001: 43 gardens had emerged of 235 planted
2002: 57 gardens have emerged of 317 planted
Study the map and work on the following questions.
Challenge Question #5
"Do some calculations. What Percentage of each total has emerged? Using the map and the data collected thus far, is spring 2002 ahead of spring 2001? Give examples to back up your answer."
(To respond to these questions, please
follow the instructions below.)
Comparing 3 Years Emerge Maps: Discussion of Challenge Question #1
Miss Maccari's sixth grade science class at Classical Academy Charter School had an observation and a guess about why the emergence maps look so different. In 2000 and 2001, there were very few gardens emerged on the east coast. In 2002, many gardens emerged on the east coast. They thought the weather warmed up later in the spring of 2000.
Teacher Tip! Collecting Data Over the Years
 |
Put your tulip data in a safe place and pull it out each year for study and comparison.
Create a Garden Weather Station!
Meteorologists study the weather by recording data using a range of instruments, then analyzing their findings. Have you considered creating your own garden or schoolyard weather station? A little thought and some creative ingenuity are all it takes to design and build your own scientific instruments. For ideas, visit these Web sites:
Sharing the Excitement
Here are a few of the many classrooms' comments for you to share:
Langly Middle School, in Langly, Washington reported:
"What a great Valentine gift! Red tips coming out of the ground! It was a 50 degree day after lots of cold days and several days this month of hard frost and snow."
Third Gradeers at Rehoboth Elementary School in Rehoboth Beach, DE reported:
"Three tulips have emerged from our raised bed. We planted them (Red Emperor and White Emperor) as the stripes in the American Flag and left space for the blue field of stars to be planted when the tulips have emerged. We're dedicating the garden to the heroes in our country, and we are so anxious to see it all in bloom!"
Lone Pine Elementary in Medford, OR reported:
"Two out of our class group of 25 emerged yesterday (2/18). We had a few warm days, so we were thinking that they might have responded to that. We have some forced bulbs that have been growing for a couple of weeks now. We are going to see which grows faster, since we monitored those."
Cape Cod Academy in MA is looking at collecting data!
"We just finished putting six data-loggers into our tulip garden. We put two seven inches in the soil, two under the mulch, and tied two into trees at the edge of the garden. They will begin working at noon today and take the temperature every hour. When the tulips emerge I can dig up the data-loggers and download the data. We'll see what happens."
How Long Does it Take a Tulip to Grow?
Look at the dates each of the following gardens was planted, and when the tulips emerged.
Then count how many days it took for them to grow:
|
Location of Garden |
Date Planted |
Date Emerged |
# Days |
| Vero Beach, FL |
01/09/02 |
02/13/02 |
|
| Cobble Hill, B.C., Canada |
11/18/01 |
02/14/02 |
|
| Lincoln City, OR |
11/04/01 |
01/23/02 |
|
| Fresno, CA |
12/20/01 |
02/04/02 |
|
| Croydon, England |
09/28/01 |
02/08/02 |
|
| Kingwood, TX |
01/04/02 |
02/01/02 |
Challenge Question #6
"What do you think is causing the number of days to vary so much? Name an underlying factor that you think affects how long it takes for tulips to grow. How could you measure this factor in each garden, so the gardens can be compared? (In your answer, give examples from this year's gardens to show why counting days isn't helpful.)
(To respond to the question, please follow
the instructions below.)
Losing Count? Try This!
Here is a teacher's tip worth repeating! (Thanks to Ms. Bashinski in Orlando, FL) Ever get contrasting results from counting your tulips? This is the perfect time to introduce grids as a way to accurately measure data. Use string to make a grid across our garden and each group take one or two sections to scout out emerged tulips. It is far easier to be exact in a smaller, well-defined area. Each group can check their own area daily and update their count!
Cold, Tender Tulips? Discussion of Challenge Question #3
Last update we asked the question, "With tulips emerging during warm days and cold and freezing nights what will happen to the tulip plants?"
Remember that a tulip is a plant that is not native to North America. In fact, it is originally from Asia. Sometimes a non-native plant, like the tulip will emerge before the last frost date for a particular zone. A number of factors can cause this to happen (unusually warm temperatures, microclimate, or plant variety). When it does, the plant is subject to frost damage to the leaves, or even to the flower bud as it is emerging between the leaves. Frost damage can damage or even kill plant tissue and can result in stunting, yellowing or death of the plant.
How to Respond to Today's Challenge Question
IMPORTANT: Answer only ONE question in each e-mail message.
1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-tulip@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #4 (#5, or #6).
3. In the body of the message, answer ONE of the questions above.
The Next Tulip Garden Update Will be Posted on March 8, 2002.
Copyright 2002 Journey North. All Rights Reserved.
Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
