Spreading Green Cheer

April 5, 2017 by Mary Hosier

Students are celebrating spring in the Test Garden! Observe your tulips closely and discover their beauty and function.

Students cheer “Hooray!” Old Man Winter is finally letting Mother Nature spread her green cheer, with blooming tulips in Camden, North Carolina. Photo: Melissa Harnly on March 27th.

Observing and recording are two important steps in any scientific investigation. Compare your garden with a partner garden to broaden your investigations.

“Our tulips emerged 4 or 5 days after our urban partners in Saint Paul, again this year. Urban heat island effect?” Afton, Minnesota on March 31st.

“In between two snow storms, the first of the tulips are blooming. The others look to be close behind.”
Colorado Springs, Colorado on April 3rd. 

“Millville is proud to announce that a Red Emperor Tulip in the Journey North Garden just bloomed today.”
Millville, New Jersey on March 29th. 

Integrating Math and Science
There are many ways to integrate math into the Test Garden project. Creating a simple graph of predictions is a real way to show a collection of data. Frances Koontz of Bowie, Maryland, shared their class graph this week.

“The graph stays in the hall all winter. Great opportunity to integrate math and science.”
Bloom date was March 30th.