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Update:
March 18, 2010 |
Please
report: |
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As a heat wave crossed the middle section of the continent, snow melted
to reveal tulips emerging in a whopping 43 new gardens this week! Is spring
early or late this year? Try monitoring temps in your garden to compare
them to the average. Try some tulip math with the Nottingham garden data.
Meet a tulip cousin and see how they are alike. Learn where tulips come
from and why they are so tough.
Today's
Report Includes:
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How tough are your tulip plants? What if this happened to them?
Explore...
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Maps,
Questions, and Highlights |
Highlights:
Snow Has Melted!
A whopping 43 new gardens reported emerged since our last update!
One look at the weather map and you'll know why.
The
warmer than average temperatures melted snow piles across the Midwest
and East. Gardeners kept a close eye on their garden plots and many
were rewarded with their first emerging tulips. |
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A
report from Ohio:
Our tulip garden has been covered with snow for
most of the winter. Lots of snow! Over the past few weeks we have
waited impatiently for the snow to melt. Once it did . . nothing!
A week of sunny days in the 50s and 60s, still nothing. Then, on Friday,
March 12, the first little shoots were visible. What joy! We can't
wait to see what happens next. |
Massachusetts students reported:
Are the tulips up yet? For the past two weeks we've
been checking just about every day since the temperature has been
hovering around 50. Well, today the answer was finally yes!!! |
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Explore:
Is This a "Normal" Spring? |
Does
it feel warmer or colder than last year at this time? Is this a normal
spring or is it earlier or later than usual? What does your gut say? How
could you verify this?
This may
be the way to begin a discussion about the "big issue" of climate
change in your own classroom. Monitor your temperatures and compare them
to the national climate maps.
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Track
temperatures and find the answer to this:
"Is this a NORMAL
spring?"
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Solve:
Tulip Math |
Tulip
Math
In Nottingham, England gardeners reported their tulips emerged much
later than normal. Here is their garden data for the past 5 years.
Help them find answers:
- What
is the minimum, maximum,and
mean, dates their tulips have emerged?
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How many days apart are the minimum and maximum emergence dates?
Year |
Date
Emerged |
2010 |
03/15 |
2009 |
02/24 |
2008 |
02/08 |
2007 |
01/30 |
2006 |
02/08 |
- Why
do you think the tulips emerged so late this year?
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For
the past month temperatures at the Nottingham garden were
1.97 degrees C. colder than average. |
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Explore:
Two Plant "Cousins" |
Here
are pictures of two flowers. One may look familiar to you because
it is a Red Emperor tulip! These flowers are related. In fact they
are BOTH in the same plant family. Find out what it means to share
the same family.
Try
This!
Study the two flowers. Then write down as many ways they look the
same and the ways they look different. Then find out what we see.
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These
flowers are "cousins" in the same plant family. |
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Related
Journey North Lessons and Links |
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Slideshow
Learn where the earliest tulips come from so you can understand
them in your garden. |
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The
Next Tulip Garden Update Will Be Posted on March 25, 2010.
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