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Signs
of Spring:
Observations for
April
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| Today's
Reminder Includes:
- How
the Season is Changing >>
- Outdoor
Observations for April: Tune Your Ears! >>
- What's
Happening to the Sunlight? >>
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What clues can you find? >>
Photo:
Ann Cook
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How
the Season is Changing |
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Students
in New Jersey exchanged signs of spring with these students
in Turkey! What did they discover? Explore >>
Photo: Duygu Ergen |
"I
saw the first measuring worm today," reports a 2nd grader in
New Jersey. "He inched up my sleeve!" Cardinals singing
mating songs, ice melting, and spiders dangling: These are just
a few of the sightings reported by sharp-eyed observers this month.
Look at these amazing new signs of spring photos.
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A
fish-eating bird (osprey) >>
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A
special sign of spring from across the globe in Turkey >>
Some of the most exciting spring signs are ones you don't
even see! Explore more in Outdoor Observations for April (below).
Then go outside and perk up your ears! |
Outdoor
Observations for April: Tune
Your Ears! |
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| This
noisy spring peeper is barely as long as a paper clip! |
"We
heard the first swamp music," writes one Journey North observer.
A concert? No, she was describing the sound of thousands of tiny
spring peepers!
What have you heard this spring? When you make your April
observations and write in your
Signs of Spring journal, handout, or checklist (see resources, below),
try to be spring sound sleuths!
-
Sounds
of Spring: Go outside with a journal or notebook. Find
a spot to sit still for 5 or 10 minutes. Close your eyes and
open your ears. What sounds do you notice? Next, write a description
of each sound and what you think caused it. (A buzzing bee?
Scurrying squirrel? Squishing mud? Dripping water?) Which of
these are mainly spring sounds? Explain why you chose those.
- Animal
Sound Tracker: Track down three wild sounds until you
find the animals making them. (No fair tracking dogs or cats!)
Observe the animals for as long as you can. In your journal, describe
the sounds as well as you can. Also record what you see the animals
doing while they're making the sounds. Try to record the date,
time, weather conditions, location, and habitat for each sighting.
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| What's
Happening to the Sunlight?
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Are
you tracking sunrise and sunset times, daylength, or shadows in
your hometown? What have you noticed? These things continue to change
very quickly! How do they affect the progress of spring?
Imagine you're in space looking at Earth on the morning of April
1. >> |
How
is sunlight changing?
>> |
| Resources
to Explore |
- Student
Journal: Signs
of Spring >>
- Handout:
Watching
the Seasons Change (gr. K-3) >>
- Checklist:
Signs of Spring (gr. 4+)
>>
- Report
your spring observations! Choose
the sighting or event that best fits! >>
- View
Maps: Spring Events
and Favorite
Signs of Spring
- Handout:
Signs of Spring: Clues About Seasonal Change >>
- Share:
Exchange Observations with a Partner! >>
- Sound
Clips: Red-winged Blackbird Vocalizations >>
- Teachers:
About Signs of the Seasons >>
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| Signs
of Spring for May: A reminder will be posted on
May 1, 2009 |
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