"Our tulips are growing taller and taller!", students in 16 Journey North gardens will tell you today. Even bigger news arrived from 4 new sites where students say their tulips are in bloom. Thanks to these classrooms for their updates. We've provided their comments below in two sections:
* "Blooms is the News", where gardeners announce the blooming of their tulips, and
* "Talk About Tulips", where students discuss the progress of their gardens.
When your tulips bloom, please send a Field Data Form to Journey North by pressing the button below marked "Report Field Observations". Remember, for this study blooming is defined as the first time the flower opens so that you can see the pistils and stamens inside.
Among the interesting comments this week, came the April 3rd message from students in Salt Lake City, Utah. Read their report and see if you can answer this Challenge Question. Please explain your thoughts in as much detail as possible.
Challenge Question # 81
"Why might the tulips at Temple Square bloom earlier than those at Eastwood Elementary, where the elevation is 500 feet higher?"
Mapping Spring's Journey
As the tulips bloom in your gardens we'd like to provide a view of spring's northward journey at a glance--by making a map for the WWW. We need your help! In order to make the map electronically, we need to include your latitude and longitude. If you don't know yours it's time to find out. Simply call the U.S. Geological Survey at 1- 800-USA-MAPS or see the lesson on page 41 of the Journey North Manual called, "Your Global Address: Calculating Your Own Latitude and Longitude." We expect to be deluged with reports of April flowers in the upcoming weeks, so your help is greatly appreciated.
Just Watching Your Garden Grow?
Rather....let's see how many activities we can design centered around our gardens and the opportunity at hand, with hundreds of schools involved in this science project at the same time! At the end of this report we've begun a list of activities. We hope you'll suggest specific activities which support your science and math curriculum. Please send your ideas by e-mail to: jnorth@learner.org
Journey North Tulips in Bloom
Spring, 1996
Date of First Bloom Place
03/01/96 Palo Alto, CA
03/13/96 Tallahassee, FL
03/13/96 San Rafael, CA
03/25/96 Franklin, TN
04/01/96 Selah, WA
04/11/96 Bowie, MD
04/03/96 Grand Junction, CO
04/08/96 Santa Fe, NM
BLOOMS IN THE NEWS
From WASHINGTON:
April 1, 1996
I saw tulips in bloom over spring break in Tacoma, Seattle, Selah,
Yakima, and Toppenish. The colors of the tulips were yellow, red,
and white.
Jonathan Pruneda. Lince Intermediate School, Selah, WA
Tawni Taylor, 4th Grade Teacher, tltaylor@destiny.esd105.wednet.edu
From COLORADO:
April 3, 1996
Last fall I registered with Journey North and planted a dozen red
emperor tulips on my dog's grave. The tulips broke into bloom today
(April 3, 1996). I am not part of a class in any way (student or
teacher) but am doing this on my own. I live in Grand Junction,
Colorado 39 degrees lat and 108 degrees, 30 minutes long
Thank you. Susan Hartman susan@colosys.net
From NEW MEXICO:
April 8, 1996
I helped a class at Alvord School in Santa Fe, NM sign up for journey
north and plant tulips last year. The computer system at their
school has been down for several months and does not look to be back
up anytime soon. The teacher and students are all very disappointed.
Our tulips just bloomed! Teacher's Name... Bernadette Pena,Observer's
name: Alexander McDonough. Alvord School, Santa Fe, New Mexico
lwiener@shadow.stjohns-nm.edu
From MARYLAND:
April 11, 1996
The first graders in my class were very excited this morning when they
noticed that three of our 37 tuplis were in full bloom. We measured them
and the tallest of the three was 16.5 inches tall (the other two were 14 and
11 inches). In a few days the front of our school should be beautiful!
Mrs. Bonnie Williams' First Grade Class and Lois Nichols, Holy Trinity
School, Bowie, MD 20720 lnichols@umd5.umd.edu
From TENNESSEE:
(Bloomed March 25, 1996)
April 11, 1996
Our tulips have done great! When it's cold the petals close
up.On the mornings there is frost, they close up too. We enjoy watching
that! Today is a bright,sunny day and the tulips are wide open. They love
the warm weather,also. The average height of our tulips is 1 foot. One of
the tulips got cut by a lawn mower, when people from the county cut the
grass.We have 7 tulips still standing, but a few look like they are ready
to die.It has been fun watching the tulips grow and change each day. So
long from Franklin. Bryan Barnes Mrs. Jaci Stewart, Oak View Elementary,
Franklin,TN jstewart@cecasun.utc.edu
TALK ABOUT TULIPS:
From MASSACHUSETTS:
March 26th
Our third grade class here in Massachusetts has been very
excited about watching for our tulips to emerge from the ground. We
planted them last fall according to directions. We had a great deal of
snow here - over 100 inches! It broke a century record. Our tulips are
planted in a memorial garden near rose bushes and a stone bench. Last
week we noted that 3 of the tulips had broken ground and were around 1/2
inch tall. This week, we noted over 20 more had erupted and some were
almost 3 inches tall. We are thinking that we might like to race the
class from Minnesota because we may have a chance of winning! We like
the experiments they did with boiling water and bubbles when it was so
cold. Spring is finally here in Massachusetts!
From Mrs. Lind's 3rd grade class at the Burbank School in Belmont,
Massachusetts
walind@lynx.dac.neu.edu
From ONTARIO:
March 27, 1996
The tulips are just popping their heads out of the ground in Gananoque,
Ontario on Wednesday, March 27 vivwhite@limestone.kosone.com
From RHODE ISLAND:
March 28, 1996
We do not have any blooms yet. However, we have observed a lot of changes
in our tulip garden since our last report. All 24 bulbs that we planted
back in November have sprouted. The tallest shoot is 3", and the shortest
is an inch. We noticed that when the shoots are 1-2" tall, they are reddish
in color, but as they grow taller, they become green. We noticed that the
warmer
the weather became, the more growth and change occurred in the bulbs. We
have had some inconsistent weather and temperatures, with a day in the
'70's followed by days in the high 30's and low 40's. Our weather
forecast tonight (March 28) is for more snow!! We revised our class
predictions for when we think we will see our first bloom (mid-April) but
who knows?! We would love to share more about our findings and compare
results with another class that is interested.
Sincerely, Mrs. Nosal and Mrs. Hyman Orlo Ave 5th graders in Room 5! Orlo
Avenue School, East Providence ,R.I. S00141@grog.ric.edu
From OREGON:
March 29, 1996
No are tulips are not (Red Emperor), but they are red.
Our tulips bloomed a couple days ago on Friday, March 29th. Our tulips are
about 10 1/2 inches tall, about 26 cm. Our tulips are red and they are by
the sidewalk by our school.Written by: Katie Polansky, Tom Carroll, Brenden
Bullock, Julian Pile. Mrs. Kennedy's First Grade Class, St. John the
Baptist School, Milwaukie, Oregon ekennedy@teleport.com
From VIRGINIA:
March 30, 1996
We have 36 tulips sprouted although our temperature is still cold (in the
30's). WE had sleet yesterday and today. Our tulips are on average 1 1/2"
above ground. we are looking forward to them blooming.
ST. TIMOTHY SCHOOL, CHANTILLY,VA Weiskopf@aol.com
From WASHINGTON:
March 31, 1996
We saw red and yellow tulips about 8 to 12 inches tall in our yards.
In the two weeks between March 30 and April 14 in the Skagit Valley
bout 60 miles north of here there will be the annual tulip festival.
The growers in the Skagit Valley are among the largest growers of tulip
bulds in the world.Kelly Landau, Robert Callahan, Jeff Kamm. Richard
Bennett Elementary, Bellevue, Washington. Sharon Held
s425held@belnet.bellevue.k12.wa.us
From NEW YORK:
April 1, 1996
Finally! Every Monday since March 9th we have been going outside and
checking on our tulips. Today, for the first time, we saw that our tulips
began to sprout. They are about one inch tall. We really can't see leaves -
only little tips. The class whose tulips are next to ours have a sprout 2
1/2 inches tall. Yesterday was a warm, sunny day. The temperature was in
the 50's and 60's. Today it is only going to be in the 40's or lower. It
has just started to sprinkle. By the way, this is NOT an April Fool's joke.
Mrs. Seager's 2nd Grade class, Fyle Elementary School, Rochester, NY
gpetri@mail.monroe.edu
From MICHIGAN:
April 3, 1996
The Grade 3/4 class has seen tulips coming up in their gardens at home.
They are up about 8 cm (3 inches). It is gettin warmer steadily and the
tulips are starting to grow. We are on the north shore of Lake Erie.
Connie Tranter - Grade 3/4 teacher and Corry Demeris - Computer Contact at
Jack Miner Public School jmps@mail.wincom.net
From UTAH:
April 3, 1996
The Tulips where in the garden at Temple Square. Our school is aproximately
500 feet higher Than Temple Square so the ones at our school are not
blooming. No, we did not plant the red Emperor tulips last fall, these are
bulbs that are in the gardens downtown. We just wanted to report them!
Thanks! Tommy East, Eastwood Elementary, Salt Lake City, Utah
Katherine A. East teast5@ibm.net
From NEW YORK:
April 4, 1996
Hello this is Donald at Philadelphia N.Y.. Michael has left for Easter
already so he won't have anything to report. I have alot to report. The
Weeping Willows are going through an Orange stage. Ms. Gadbaw's tulups are
growing. We've had a sighting of some Crows, 7 Blue Birds, alot of Robins,2
Blue Herrons, some Geese, Sparrows, Mallard, 3 Ducks,and 3 Downy
Woodpecker.
PPrimary@aol.com
From NEW YORK:
April 4, 1996
Tulip sprouts update
Hi from Mrs. Scheg's 3rd grade class! Yesterday we went out to measure our
tulip shoots for the first time, and we found that 33 out of the 60 bulbs we
planted in October have sprouted. We tried an experiment and planted our
bulbs in two different places. Even though the directions said not to plant
our bulbs next to the school building, we did plant 12 bulbs there and 48
bulbs out in the flower bed in the center courtyard, to see what would happen.
The shoots next to the building are 4" to 8" tall, and the shoots in the
center bed are 1/2" to 3" tall - what a difference! We noticed that none of
the bulbs planted in the lowest part of the bed have sprouted - maybe it's too
wet there, compared to the raised bed - we'll keep watching this closely! It
was a challenge to measure our shoots and record the numbers, because it was
snowing so hard when we went out to measure yesterday - we could hardly see
what we were doing. Mrs. Valentine took a picture of us trying to measure our
tulip plants in a snowstorm. Today we have 4 inches of snow on the ground,
and our plants are not in sight. Is spring really here? Mrs. Scheg's 3rd
grade class, Crane Elementary School, Rochester, NY, Margie Valentine,
Librarian, mvalentine@mail.monroe.edu.
From COLORADO:
April 5, 1996
Colorado Tulips
The tulips in Colorado Springs have just started to appear above the ground
(though fresh snow). WWP Linda and Warren Pearce pearceww@rmii.com
From MARYLAND:
April 8, 1996
Greetings from Bel Air Elementary School in Cumberland, Maryland. We are in
Mrs. Roberts fourth grade class. We planted tulip bulbs all around our
building. They are starting to grow. We measured the ones near the north of
the building and they are 8 inches tall. The bulbs in front of our school
on the west are now 3 inches high. By the south end of our building the
bulbs are 6 1/2 inches high. The bulbs on the east end of the school yard
are growing and are around 4-6 inches in height, but are slightly shaded by
trees. We are enjoying this project. BEL AIR ELEMENTARY
belairel@fre.fsu.umd.edu
From VIRGINIA:
April 9, 1996
Our tulips still have not bloomed but are about 6" above the ground. We
are worried because our weather has predicated snow and the temperature
has gotten very cold. The snow they say will come is going to be wet snow
so we hope it won't hurt the tulips. HIGGINS WEISKOPF, ST. TIMOTHY
SCHOOL,CHANTILLY, VA KWeiskopf@aol.com
From MINNESOTA:
April 9, 1996
Sprouting Tulips: We planted 20 bulbs last fall. 14 have sprouted. They
are from 1 to 4 inches high right now! Patti Preves' First Graders, Blake
Highcroft, The Blake School,Wayzata, MN
Patti_Preves@bear.blake.pvt.k12.mn.us
From MINNESOTA:
April 10, 1996
Hi! We are from Columbia Heights, Minnesota. Yesterday, we raked
away the remainder of the leaves from our tulip garden. The snow that had
been covering our garden has melted. We have not seen any sign of tulips,
yet. We are getting warmer weather, though. We think the tulips will come
up soon. Amanda Covey and Minh Nguyen from Mrs. Stitt's fourth grade class
at Valley View School. 0013vvel@voyager.informns.k12.mn.us
Just Watching Your Garden Grow?
If you have gardening activities you'd like to suggest and share, please let us know! Just send a message to jnorth@learner.org
Here are a few suggestions:
* Measure the height of your tulips regularly and graph the results.
* Measure and graph the average daily temperatures.
* Measure & calculate Growing Degree Days
(See page 107 of T. Manual and previous e-mail)
* Sketch your tulips at various stages of growth. Count the number days between each stage for one tulip. Compare growth with time and temperature. Noteworthy stages of growth include: First emergence from soil, first leaves, first visible bud, flower's color first visible, tulip opens, first petals drop, leaves whither. This progression is the phenology of the plant.
* Keep a daily journal about your garden. Describe what you observe carefully and in as much detail as possible.
* Have each student predict the date the first tulip will bloom in your garden. Make a graph that shows the range of your predictions. Calculate the average of all these predictions. This average is the class prediction.
* After the first tulip blooms compare your individual and class predictions to the actual results.
* Contact another Journey North classroom and work collaboratively on any of the ideas listed above.
How to Respond to Challenge Question # 81
1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #81
3. In the Body of your message, answer this question:
"Why might the tulips at Temple Square bloom earlier than those at Eastwood Elementary, where the elevation is 500 feet higher?"
The Next Tulip Update Will be Posted on April 26, 1996.
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