Tulip Garden Update: April 5, 2002 Today's Report Includes: Cooler than Average Temperatures Can't Stop Spring Journal Entries Give Bud to Creative Writers Challenge Question #11 Garden Soil Experiments Tenacious Gardeners Don't Say "Uncle" Which Comes First, the Tulips or the Leaves? Springtime in Northern Finland: Challenge Question #12 Eaten Any Geophytes Lately? Discussion of Challenge Question #9 Growing Degree Days Key to Spring: Discussion of Challenge Question #10 Try This! Gleaning Thoughts from Leaning Seedlings Challenge Question #13 Cooler than Average Temperatures Can't Stop Spring Cooler weather can slow the progress of spring but it can't stop it. Since our last update 19 gardens reported emerged this week and we have 16 more blooming. Take a look- Tulips Emerged Tulips Blooming Below normal temperatures in the central section of the continent continue to keep spring 2002 cool. In parts of the middle section, March was the coldest month of the winter. Take a look at the departure from normal maps, particularly the area in the center of the continent; how is this weather affecting your tulip garden this year? Departure from Normal Temperatures (February and March) Surprises in the Garden On both sides of the continent many of you came back from spring break to find a colorful surprise in the garden: "We returned from Spring break today and discovered that 4-5 tulips in our garden have bloomed. We planted in a distinct logo format and are looking forward to the full bloom so we can send JN a photo. Happy Spring!" Hunters Woods Elementary, Reston VA "We came back from spring break to find that our tulips had come out! It had been dry here, but we had a fair amount of rain over the past week, and that had to help." Barrie School, Silver Spring, MD "While our class was out of school on Spring Break, our Tulip Garden bloomed! Although our plants were the first in North America to emerge, they needed more sunny days to finally bloom. They are gorgeous and withstood an attack over the winter by repairmen who had to dig through them to fix a plumbing leak into our school's computer lab. We still had over 60 survivors out of about 90 bulbs planted." Taft Middle School, Lincoln City, OR Journal Entries Give Bud to Creative Writers Sometimes sighting reports can be the springboard to creativity. Third Graders at Cavendish Town Elementary in Proctorsville, VT sent such a vivid report we feel they brought us along for the tour of their tulips! Read on: "Ph 6.5 Soil temperauture 44º. The soil was a lot darker then usual. AJ It was misty outside. MC It was windy. KM The air was fresh. AM It was cool out. SH The sky was dark. SS The soil was harder packed then in the fall. ES The sky had clouds over clouds. CW It was drizzling out and cloudy. CR The dirt was cold and wet. SF Since yesterday the weather changed from hot and sunny to cloudy and cold. KMac The weather warmed up since this morning. EJ Yesterday was really hot and today it was cold. NS It was wet. JS The tulips were sprouting!! SG" It almost sounds like poetry, doesn't it. Try This! Go outside with your journals and take a tour of your tulip garden. Once you are out in the garden try making a quiet zone all around the garden space. In this quiet space pull out your pencils and jot down some of the attributes, or qualities of the surrounding area. Use your senses to define some of the things you see, smell, hear and feel. When you return to the classroom take some time to share your journal entries. Make a list of them on the board. Next, try your hand at creating some simple cinquain (SIN cane) poetry! What is a cinquain? Find out here:Turning Observations into Poetry Challenge Question #11: "Can you turn your journal entries into poetry? Maybe your tulips are blooming, or emerging, or maybe they are still covered with snow. Can you creatively share the garden in a poem?" (Send some of your poetry to Journey North.) (To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.) Garden Soil Experiments Kentucky students tested tulips grown in different soil types and learned a lesson. At Emmalena Elementary the experiment started with planting on Oct. 25. They reported that students planted tulips in different soil types. They wanted to check the effect of the type of soil on the growth and development. On the last day in Feb. this is what they reported: "Several of our tulips bloomed on this date, however most bloomed a few days later than Feb. 28, 2002. The students who had planted their bulbs in a wet, clay type of soil did not see emerging or bloom. The bulbs rotted." Tenacious Gardeners Don't Say "Uncle" There is something about people who dig in the soil. They are people who do not give up easily. Growing a garden is not an easy task- especially in the spring of 2002. Cowen Elementary in Whitesburg, KY received their reward or all their hard work; a beautiful garden! "Due to the weather we had to cover the tulips up with news- paper and plastic on Thursday. By doing this they fell over. On friday we made a tent to keep the plastic from laying on them. At 10:00am Saturday we uncovered them because the day was supposed to be hot. Eleven tulips were knocked over from the plastic. Six of the eleven stood back up on Monday. Some were supported with sticks to hold them up. As of 03/28/02 all but three tulips have bloomed. However they are about to bloom. We had to cover them up Tuesday and Thursday because of the frost. They are very beatiful." Which Comes First, the Tulips or the Leaves? Leaf-out should occur sometime after your tulips emerge. Is this true where you live? Here's an observation that only takes an instant to make: Look out the window and see if "leaf-out" has occurred. We define "leaf-out" as the moment the leaves on a tree are as large as a quarter. (This is also when the leaves are big enough to make full shade under the tree.) Please help us test the timing of this sign of spring. Report your observations to Journey North. We hope to hear from at least 19 garden sites soon! Your North American classmates are depending on you. Springtime in Northern Finland Utsjoen School in spring You may have noticed that on our biggest Tulip map there is a spot representing our northern-most tulip garden. This is the garden of Utsjoen saamelaislukio (Utsjoki Sámi senior high school) in northern Finland. It is located at 69.9N, 29.9E, north of the Arctic Circle. The students at Utsjoen saamelaislukio, while waiting for their tulips to emerge have written about spring in Utsjoki. These were written in English for all of us to enjoy. Could you write about spring in the Finnish language? Spring in Utsjoki "In spring people start to go to the fells with snowmobiles. Me and my mum go there walking, its nicer than going by snowmobile because there is no disturbing noise. Of course there are many people who go to fells walking. One thing I hate in spring. It´s the little insects which come when the ice brakes out of the river. The ice-out usually takes place in May". -Hanna-Leena Laiti "In Utsjoki, spring usually begings in March. Sun shines and it's nice to go to ski, or go with snowmobile to fells (but it can also be awfully cold and snowy). People also go ice-fishing to the lakes in the fells. People have little cottages in the fells, where they go for example at Easter to relax. When the weather gets warmer and the snow melts, the warm sunshine makes you believe that it is summer and you can easily catch a cold. The ice-out is a big happening in Utsjoki. It is maybe because the river Teno was (and it is still) an important river to Sami people. Salmon fishing has been an important lively hood in Utsjoki for ages."-Anni Ahlakorpi Challenge Question #12: "In Finland people enjoy traveling to 'the fells' to enjoy leisure activities like skiing, walking, and relaxing. What is the definition of 'the fells' in English and where does the word come from?" (To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.) Eaten Any Geophytes Lately? Discussion of Challenge Question #9 Lots of you discovered that many geophytes were grown just for you. Every day our meals and snacks contain parts of plants that are called geophytes. These include bulbs, corms, tubers and very young plant hypocotlys. Here are some examples: Bulbs: onions, garlic, chives, and shallots Tubers: potatoes Tuberous roots: sweet potatoes, radishes, beets, carrots Hypocotyls: mung bean sprouts Did you know that the potato, a tuber, is one of the world's most important vegetable? In the US, more potatoes are eaten than any other vegetable! Growing Degree Days Key to Spring: Discussion of Challenge Question #10 Last time we asked you to put on your thinking caps with this question: "What factors might be affecting the climate in the garden at Croyden that would cause it to bloom before the gardens in North America at the same latitude (51.20N)?" In Ithaca New York, Belle Sherman 4th Graders used their heads to come up with a great scientific explanation: "We puzzled about what would make it possible for tulips to bloon at 51 degrees North, when here in Ithaca, at 42 degrees North, our tulips haven't even emerged yet. We'd just determined that so far this spring we've only had 60 growing degree days. So probably in Croydon, they've had many more GDDs. Maybe they haven't had as much snow to cover their tulips up - or maybe they're just lucky!" Excellent thinking! Scientists have discovered that you can actually measure the amount of heat it takes to make some spring events occur. This accumulated heat is measured in units called "Growing Degree Days" (GDDs). Belle Sherman 4th Graders have demonstrated that they think like scientists! When you find Croyden on the map you would see that they are located on an island surrounded by some very large bodies of water. Ocean currents bringing warmer winter winds keep the climate milder (bringing more growing degree days)than we would find in places more inland in North America. Try This! Gleaning Thoughts from Leaning Seedlings It's springtime and many classrooms across the continent have mini-gardens lining their window sills and growing under lights. Getting a jump on Mother Nature means starting our seeds inside in pots of soil. For the observant gardener you may have noticed that the little sprouted seedlings have a curious habit of bending one way or another depending on the light source. Each day the pots need to be turned so they will grow up straight and tall. What is happening here? Start a batch of seeds for your classroom, or keep a watch over some you already have growing. Try some experiments with the direction of the source of light in relation to your plants. Then do some research to answer this: Challenge Question #13: "What is the relationship between the direction of plant growth and light?" (To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.) 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 #11 (or #12 or #13) 3. In the body of the message, answer ONE of the questions above. The Next Tulip Garden Update Will be Posted on April 12, 2002. Copyright 2002 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form