Just seconds before this posting, Trevor Baim of Ms. Hoffman's class in Colorado wrote: "Finally! Leaf-out sighting on Mt. Crusted Butte! They are aspen trees at the base of our ski mountain, the first at this end of our valley." According to Ms. Hoffman, the ice just melted from their local lake this week. Hmmmmm.....that's even later than ice-out in Alaska's Innoko River!
Challenge Question #119:
"Why do you think leaf-out & ice-out occur so late in Crusted Butte,
Colorado?"
(To respond to this Challenge Question, please follow the instructions at the end of this report.)
Last week we asked, "Why is maple sap sweet? Where does the sugar come from?" "How is maple sugaring related to leaf-out?" Thanks to students in Mrs. Stitt's 4th Grade Class at Valley View School and Mr. Minerich's class in Pequot Lakes, MN for answering this question (see below). Special thanks to Andrew, Andy, Ian and Mike from Mr. Minerich's class for conducting an interview to learn more about collecting sap from maple trees. Read their report below to see what they discovered.
This has been the coldest spring since 1950 in the state of Minnesota. For 32 days that city's newspaper included a tiny picture of a bud so people could watch it change each day. On May 14th the carefully-watched silver maple bud finally burst into 4 tiny leaves. Typically silver maples leaf-out late April or early May. Some of the maples are as much as a month late in flowering. You can view 32 days in the life of this bud on the Internet at: http://www.startribune.com/
As students in Mrs. Uhl's 2nd Grader in Canton, Michigan discovered, different tree species leaf-out a different time during the spring. Groups of students adopted different trees and kept track of leaf-out (see below). If you have a Journey North Teacher's Manual, see the activity "Fifty Years of Spring". Why not begin a tradition at your school and keep track of the dates trees bud, bloom and leaf-out in your schoolyard each spring. How old will you be in 50 years?!
********************************************************
REPORTS FROM OBSERVERS
From PENNSYLVANIA:
April 25
Mrs. Moretz's second grade students have selected three trees to
observe for leaf out. On April 25th, the first tree to have leaves
the size of a quarter was identified as a weeping birch tree. On
May 1 another tree had leaves andwas identified as a Norway maple
(even though we had frost tha morning!). On May 3, our last tree
came into leaf and was identified as a white oak. (These leaves are
only the size of a dime). We have enjoyed watching the changes in
the trees around our school. We have also identified dogwoods,
Quanzan cherries, and redbuds.
Lynda Eckert, Oley Valley Elementary School
Oley, PA (40.22N, 75.49W)
leckert@fast.net
From NEW JERSEY:
April 26
Last week leaves were the size of a quorder when we were on
vacation. Now they are biger than a quorder. On May 7 we went to
search for leaves near our school. We looked on big trees. The
biggest leaf is 18 cm wide and 13 cm long. It is from a maple tree.
On May 7th our red maple did not have the big leaf. Our red maple
grew a lot of little leaves. On May 14 we found a leaf the size of
a quarter on our red maple. We have leaves bigger than a quarter
too. Leaf-Out Committee: Yukiko, Gillian, Alison, and Rebecca
Tenafly, N.J. smithread@aol.com
From MASSACHUSETTS:
April 29
Maple leaves are bigger than a quarter. Our class went for a walk
along the bay, Hull is a penninsula. We saw four swans in the bay
who were probably hatched last year. The tulips have passed their
peak and we definately have leaf-out!
Mrs. Begley's First and Second Grade
South Shore Charter School
Hull, Massachusetts
VBEGLEY@gnn.com
From NEW YORK:
May 2
We were observing a Japanese Crab Apple tree outside our school
building. There are many other types of trees that have not yet
leafed-out. We calculated that it took 185 Growing Degree Days.
Jane Tingley
Mrs. Tingley and Mrs. Flynn-Brown
Grade 2 and 3
Tri-Valley Central School
Grahamsville, NY (41.51N, 74.32W)
dflynn@int1.mhrcc.org
From MINNESOTA:
May 9
The buds got very large before the leaves started to come out. They
are reddish-brown in color. We are not sure what kind of tree is it.
Sony Simminds
Mrs. Stitt's 4th grade
Valley View School
Columbia Heights, MN
0013vvel@InforMNs.k12.MN.US
From NEW YORK:
May 11
New York's finger lake region (Canandaigua, NY) is often a bit
ahead of surrounding areas because of the moderating effect of the
large lakes on the local climate.
Mark Fitzsimons, Cattaraugus Allegany BOCES
Mark_Fitzsimons@CABO.wnyric.org
From MICHIGAN:
May 13
Our class has divided into groups of 2 to 3 students and each group
selected a branch on a different tree. We identified our branches
with ribbon and have been observing them every day. We have not all
chosen the same kind of tree and some of the locations in the yard
are different. I will list all the children that have quarter sized
leaves on their tree as well as the kind of tree.
Kelsey Lincoln and Amy Calmes:..................Ashleaf-Maple
Brain Friedrich, Lisa Ealy and Kevin Bradley:...Crabapple
Kevin Robertson and Nick Klenn:.................Maple
Anthony Giove and Daniel Kapadia:...............Maple
Greg Rallo and Mike Fichtner:...................Red Maple
Fatima Saeed and Michelle Manikowski:...........Maple
We are very excited to be part of this project. We also did bark
rubbings from our trees to try and identify what kind of tree we had
before they had leaves.
Mrs.Uhl's Grade 2
Eriksson Elementary
Canton, Michigan
plincoln@umich.edu
From MINNESOTA:
May 14
Saw on a farm.
Kris Cheever + Danny Loomis
Mrs. Frissell's 3rd Grade
Chaska Elem. School
Chaska, Minnesota
0112cel@informns.k12.mn.us
From COLORADO:
May 16
Finally!", "Leaf-out sighting on Mt. Crusted Butte! They are aspen
trees at the base of our ski mountain, the first at this end of our
valley."
Trevor Baim, Ms. Hoffman's Grade 4/5class
Crusted Butte, Colorado
shoffman@teal.csn.org
************************************************************
Students answer Challenge Question #106:
From MINNESOTA:
We are a fourth grade class from Pequot Lakes Elem.School in Crow
Wing County MN,. We are e-mailing in reguards to question #106.
Maple Sap is sweet because of Photosynthesis. We role played
photosynthesis and simple sugar was left over. We think that the
pressure from the sap forces out the buds.
We interviewed our school superintendent. He collects maple sugar
and here are our answers. Q. When does the sap usally begin to flow
in the spring? A. April 1st, you need a day above freezing and a
night below freezing.
Q. When does it usually stop?
A. Three weeks after it starts.
Q. How long after the sap is collected does leaf out occur?
A. Four weeks after it stops flowing.
Q. How many gallons of sap does it take to make a gallon of maple syrup?
A. It takes 35-45 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup.
To know if you boiled it enough you use a hydrometer or blow test.
(Blow test used by Native Americans.)
Q. Are there any signs the maple syrup collectors watch for, so they know
when to stop collecting?
A. The trees bud and then the syrup gets a different flavor.
Q. What did Native Americans use maple syrup for? Why was it so important
to them?
A. They used it for candy and syrup. It was there only form of sweetner.
Q . Whats in sap?
A. Water, sugar, charbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
You can use a power drill. Then you put a spile in the hole and connect a
rubber garden hose to it. Hang a ice cream pail by rope from the tree.
Andy, Mike and Andrew
Mr. Minerich's Class
Pequot Lakes School
Pequot Lakes, MN
jmineric@informns.k12.mn.us
From MINNESOTA:
We think it is sweet because of sucrose. We also think sugar comes
from sap. The leafs come out in the spring and the sap starts
rising in the trunk when the weather gets warmer during the day and
the evening are still cool.
Josh Riggs, Alex Wong
Mrs. Stitt's 4th Grade Class
Valley View School
Columbia Heights, MN
0013vvel@informns.k12.mn.us
*************************************************************
How to Respond to Challenge Questions # 119:
1. Send an e-mail message to: jn-challenge@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line write: Challenge Question #119
3. In the Body of your message, this question:
"Why do you think leaf-out & ice-out occur so late in Crested Butte, Colorado?"
The FINAL Leaf-Out Update Will be Posted on May 31, 1996
 |
|
|---|
