Tulip Garden Update: December 2, 2005

Today's Report Includes:

• Gardeners Digging In
• What’s Happening Underground?
• Track Seasonal Change in your Journey North Garden
• Hooray! Gustavus Students Defend Planting Date: Answers to CQ #3
• Quick Computer Lab Activity: Interactive Map Skills
• Spotlight on the Classrooms
• Challenge Question #4

Today's Tulip Garden Map

• Link to Tulips PLANTED
• Garden Data (in a printer-friendly format)

Use this printable data sheet for recording your data.

Act now if you are in a cold winter area where your soil freezes in early December. You’ll be ready to track temperatures as you track the coming of spring across the continent.

• What’s Happening Underground: Take the Soil’s Temperature

Click and print for a ready-made journal.

Click and print this ready-made journal for keeping your notes and observations.

Starting at planting time you can capture and reflect on observations, experiences, and data; add your opinions, theories, and predictions. Even collect the season’s Challenge Questions and you will have a complete record of your 2005-2006 tulip garden experience all in one book.

• Journey North Garden Journal
  

Gardens and planting dates in Alaska

Students from Edgewood Elementary in Marysville, OH seem convinced and they have done some homework. Here’s what they think:

“We do not think it is too late for the Gustavus, Alaska tulips to root before winter for the following reasons. For instance the average temperature for November is above freezing. Also Gustavus has a warmer average November temperature than the other sites in Alaska. Furthermore Gustavus' ground will probably not freeze until mid December. That is why we do not think it is too late for Gustavus Alaska tulips to root before winter.
“ We think that Sutton Alaska's tulips will emerge first, because they planted their tulips first. Also, because the average temperature is warmer than Palmer, Anchorage and Soldatna and is about one degree colder than Gustavus.”

And now, word from Gustavus, AK students:

” No! Our soil temperatures in Gustavus Alaska (located on in Southeast Alaska) are much warmer than the other 4 tulip gardens that are located near Anchorage. In fact, our soil temperatures are about 20-30 degrees warmer than the other tulip gardens in Alaska. We just had our first significant snowfall this week, but the previous three weeks after planting our bulbs, it has been raining. We think our bulbs had time to root before winter. Our winters are not as harsh as the other sites and we think that spring will arrive sooner in Gustavus than in the tulip gardens further north in Alaska. Our soil will warm up sooner and we predict that our bulbs will emerge before the other Alaskan gardens.
-the 1-5th grade science class at Gustavus School”

This is a terrific tool that you can use any time. It is a gathering place for real-life data. How well can you navigate around the map using all of its features? Use this step-by-step guide to learn some skills, then try a challenging game of hide and seek!

• Use the Journey North Interactive Map (Then play some Hide and Seek!)

A quick glance at this week’s tulip garden map reveals gardens across the ocean on the European continent. View the gardens on our Interactive Map (click on Owl button to go there). Then gather your resources to answer the following questions about these gardens:

1. After locating the gardens, find the latitude and longitude of each garden.
2. Study the satellite map of the locations. Describe where each is located geographically (for example, think about land masses, surrounding water and proximity to the equator).
3. Where will spring arrive first? Predict which garden will bloom first. Defend your answer.

After answering the questions try THIS!

Challenge Question #4:
“ Find gardens in North America that you think will bloom at the same time as each European garden.”

To respond to this question, please follow these instructions.