Journey North International Plant Study Spring 2006

Tulip Garden Update: March 17, 2006

Today's Report Includes:

Bringing in the Green!
Risky Spring Weather and YOUR Tulips
Can You See them Grow?
Try This! Challenge Question #6
Spotlight on the Classroom: Mondamin, Iowa
Mapping the Green Wave of Spring: Discussion of CQ #5

Bringing in the Green!

First to emerge in 2005!

The Irish aren’t the only ones celebrating green today. We have an incredible 63 more GREEN gardens emerged in the past week! Do you know what is happening on March 21? The Equinox! In Anchorage, AK, gardeners have experienced an increase of 6 hours of daylight since December.
How has daylength affected us all here in the Northern hemisphere? Has it brought Spring to your garden site?

This Week's Data (Reported March 11 - 17, 2006)
Slideshow (Week-by-week animation)
Watch spring spread across North America with each passing week.

Risky Spring Weather and YOUR Tulips

Courtesy Suzanne DeJohn

Spring weather is hard to predict! High and low pressure systems shift winds and weather around as the Northern Hemisphere warms up under the sun’s more direct light. This past week strong weather systems brought big storms. Some emerging tulip plants can only be found using a snow shovel in parts of the upper Midwest!

Oh no! What will happen to the tulip plants in freezing weather? Read all about these hardy little plants. Then explain to others how the tulip plant is specially designed to survive weather surprises.

Risky Weather: Will Spring Tulips Survive?

Can You See them Grow?

Courtesy Gayle McGehee

There is an old saying in the Midwest where corn is a very big and popular crop to grow. In the summer when it’s really warm and the fields have ample moisture--conditions are perfect--the farmers say, “Today I can see the corn grow!”

Like corn, tulip plants need certain conditions and factors to grow. Can you think of some of them (food, water, sunlight and heat)? When all these are present the plant will grow the best. If all of them aren’t present what might happen to the plant?

This spring as you observe your tulips and keep a record of their growth make note of recent conditions. Record temperatures and rainfall. As you measure your plants be alert to conditions that could affect their growth. Use this growth chart to help organize your work.

Try This!
How fast did these tulips grow? Public School #1 in West New York, NJ reported:
“ On Friday March 10th there was nothing to report. When I went past the garden this morning (03/13/06) I spotted the emerging tulips. Students measured the bulbs; they ranged from 1" to 2 5/8"(6.67 cm.) in height.”

Puzzler: How fast did the tallest bulbs grow?
Let’s assume 2 things: 1) the bulbs had a steady rate of growth, and 2) they began growing above ground on March 11.

Challenge Question #6:
“ How many inches/cm did Public School #1’s tulips grow each day? How many inches/cm did they grow each hour?”

To respond to this question, please follow these instructions.

Spotlight on the Classroom: Mondamin, Iowa

West Harrison's environment science class and the talented and gifted students are tracking the sweep of spring across the Northern Hemisphere. They are excited to watch the wave of spring from their own garden for the first time this year. This week their school web site included an exciting note:

***UPDATE- The tulips have emerged on Wednesday, March 15th!***

Mrs. Nunez writes, “Many schools, like West Harrison, have had to make budget cuts that keep classes from being able to take field trips. Your site helps us make connections with the world and we don't even have to leave the school grounds.
“ In my critical thinking classes, I try to show the students that the world is a lot bigger than Mondamin, Iowa. Your site and projects let me do that!”

View Planting Day at West Harrison

Mapping the Green Wave of Spring: Discussion of CQ #5
Does spring truly move northward? Did the pattern of emerging gardens follow a pattern in the temperature map? Here’s how students from Newton, MA described their observations:

" We noticed that the tulips that were blooming (red circles) were in areas that had temperatures of 40-60 degrees. There were only 9 tulip gardens blooming in the whole country. We noticed that there were more gardens in South (closer to the Equator). There were more tulip gardens emerging by the coast than in the interior of the country. We wondered if more tulips emerge closer to a water source such as the ocean or a river."

Great observations, Ms. Guttman's class! You really learned a lot from your careful examination of the maps. Bravo!

The Next Tulip Garden Update Will Be Posted on March 24, 2006.