Journey North International Plant Study Spring 2003

Tulip Garden Update: March 7, 2003

Today's Report Includes:

Today’s Data Reflects Temperature Drop
Challenge Question #7
Gardeners Share the News
Spring's Journey NORTH? Challenge Question #8
Popping Out in Pueblo, Colorado!
Challenge Question #9
Altitude Experiment: How Quickly Does Spring Climb Mountains?
The Days, They are A-changing: Learning to be Observers
Teale’s Test: Discussion of Challenge Question #5

Today’s Data Reflects Temperature Drop
Add another log to the fire! Imagine this coming out of the mouths of many this past week. From the Northwest down to the tip of Texas and up to Maine people were putting on extra warm clothes as temperatures dropped more than 9 degrees below average. How do these colder than average temperatures affect you and your tulip bulbs?


Today's Tulip Map	Last Week's Departure from Average Temperatures Courtesy NOAA Climate Prediction Center	One Year Ago, Mar. 1, 2002

Take a look at this week’s map and compare to one year ago (data below and maps on Web). Study the map of temperatures.

Challenge Question #7:
“How many statements can you make about the patterns you see from these maps? List them.”

(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)

Gardeners Share the News
Rumor of Red in Baton Rouge

Credit Gayle Kloewer

3rd Graders at Cedarcrest-Southmooor Elementary in Baton Rouge, LA reported, “There was a rumor going down the hall that there was red in the tulip garden. Our first thought was that it was just our soil thermometer. We decided to go and check. It was raining very hard, but we still wanted to check. Soaking wet in the rain stood three tulips. It was so exciting.”

Outfoxing the Squirrels
Oak Grove High School in Hattiesburg, MS reported, “Our school is near the woods, so our tulips are close to the dumpster so the prowling cats will keep the squirrels away from our bulbs!”

Snow Plow Troubles
The tulip garden of 2nd Graders from Moharimet Elementary in Madbury, NH may have met its match this year with a snow plow! They last reported on 2/10, “Oh, No! The snow plow plowed up our Journey North Tulip Garden! We've had a lot of snow and it has been hard to clear, but we were so upset that our garden was ruined in spite of our sign explaining what it was! We are anxiously waiting for the snow to melt so we can assess the damage.”
Let’s hope that snowplow didn’t ruin the entire experiment. Stay tuned...

Spring's Journey NORTH?
According to students at 48 Journey North gardens, where tulips are now growing, spring is well on its way. But which way is spring going? Maybe we should change our name!
As you look where tulips have begun to grow, you may be surprised. How would you answer this question?

Challenge Question #8:
"Does spring truly move northward? Using today's data, describe the pattern you see. In which direction(s) is spring moving, and why you think this is so?"

(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)

Popping Out in Pueblo, Colorado!

Ms. Allen's class is ecstatic about their tulips!

Kathleen Allen's class tulips have emerged! This year the news is especially timely because it sets in swing our Altitude Experiment (see below). Here is her news:

Well we've really been sweating it out but finally some of our tulips have emerged! We spied one tiny red sprout on Thursday and expected to be able to report emergence but we got about 1 inch of snow in the early hours of Friday and about 3 inches Saturday evening and night. By 2:00 this afternoon (Monday, March 3) the strong Colorado sun had melted all the snow and in the soft, moist soil and we counted 7 tulips!
We were thrilled with the snow. We are in the sixth, and so far most severe, year of drought. Perhaps you remember reading and hearing about the devastating fires the Colorado mountains and foothills suffered last summer. We continue to be on strict water restrictions. Small mountain towns not far from Pueblo even ran out of drinking water late last summer. These days nothing seems to get us as excited as snow in the forecast!
Although, as always, we watered our tulip bed through the winter this is the latest Journey North tulips have ever emerged. We are thinking that the soil was so lacking in moisture even watering couldn't make things "normal" and the development of the tulips was slowed.
Just for fun we went back and looked at the history of when Journey North tulips emerged in Pueblo.

Year	Date Tulips EMERGED
2003	March 3
2002	Feb. 25
2001	Feb. 23
2000	eaten by a gopher!
1999	Feb. 23
1998	Feb. 19
1997	Feb. 27

We are eager to hear from our "Higher" neighbors. We do know the mountains have received lots of snow in the last week...yeah!
Regards, Kathleen Allen and students at South Park Elementary

Challenge Question #9:
“Analyze the tulip EMERGED dates for the Pueblo garden. Find the mean (average), median and range of the dates.”

(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)

Altitude Experiment: How Quickly Does Spring Climb Mountains?

Aspen Elementary: will they be next? When do you predict?
Elevation 7,907 ft.

With the Pueblo tulips emerging we can now test Teale's statement that spring "ascends mountainsides at the rate of about a hundred feet a day," and predict the arrival of spring in the mountains. Last month we invited you along to test Teal's theory but now the test begins. Pull out your worksheets and calculate and predict when spring will arrive in Aspen, Fraser and Crested Butte.
Watch the Tulips EMERGE reports and fill in the dates as each school reports their gardens emerging. Look at the factors that are involved and be the scientist. Does spring ascend at a rate of about a hundred feet a day?

Student Worksheet

Read on and find instructions for recording the tulip data on a handy worksheet: Make your own chart, or use this handy printable worksheet

The Days, They are A-changing: Learning to be Observers

Credit Gayle Kloewer

How do you and the world around you change as your tulips begin to grow and flower? You might be surprised to learn that with each day that passes your world changes ever so slightly. Using your eyes, your ears, and even your sense of touch you can observe and investigate spring as it advances through your hometown.
Brainstorm what evidence a keen observer could look for. Go out and discover the small things that make for seasonal change in and out of the tulip garden. And then set up questions to help you make sense of the changes you notice.

Visit: The Days, They are A-changing

Try This!

Create a graph showing daylength as time passes this spring. Add your observations to it on the proper dates and formulate a theory that supports what you see.
Was there a time when it suddenly warmed up enough for you to wear shorts for a few days? What other phenomena did you observe during that time? How are these things related?
Compare and contrast the growth rates of your tulips with any of the other observations you made (ex. number of birds you counted, high daytime temperatures).
Organize your observations into a timeline and evaluate what you see.

Teale’s Test: Discussion of Challenge Question #5
“As a scientist, what information would you need to set up a better elevation test to measure spring's ascension up the mountain slope? What would your experiment look like?”
This is a question that requires some research about mountains and climate. When Teale predicted spring to ascend mountainsides at the rate of 100 feet a day he was probably thinking about a particular experimental plan. What would the ideal test look like?

First, if you planted tulips on the same side of the same mountain (facing one direction) your results would be more meaningful. This would eliminate the variation from one mountain to another and from one side to another as the sun warms each part of the mountain differently.
Second, at each site the tulips would be planted exactly the same, according to the Journey North planting instructions.

Did you think of other ways to set up the best experiment to test Teale’s theory?

How to Respond to Today's Challenge Questions:

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 #7 (or #8, or #9)
3. In the body of EACH message, give your answer to ONE of the questions above.

The Next Tulip Garden Update Will Be Posted on March 14, 2003.