Update: November 8, 2007   

Today's Report Includes:

  • Maps and Highlights: >>
    • 174 and Counting
      mm
  • Try This! Gardening Partners >>
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  • Thinking Like a Scientist: "What if...?" >>
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  • Explore: The Microclimate Challenge >>
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  • Links: This Week's Tulip Garden Resources >>


This student is using a 4" coffee stir stick to measure and make sure his bulb is properly spaced.
Photo: Teri Bickmore

Please Report >>
After you Plant Your Garden

Maps and Highlights

174 and Counting
Journey North gardeners have been busy digging and planting! This could be an interesting year to plant and participate in the Tulip Garden experiment. Climate scientists (climatologists) are forecasting a warmer than normal winter. We have seen warmer than normal fall weather. Will the trend continue? How might the trend affect your garden?

Today's Map: Tulips Planted
(Map|List)
  • Today's Data >>
  • Map Questions (Handout) >>
  • About Tulip Maps >>

Map Questions
(handout) >>
Try This! Gardening Partners
Journey North gardeners are scattered from the Atlantic to the Pacific. What secrets lie in each location that will signal the arrival of spring there? Learn more with a gardening partner!

After you’ve planted your official garden, choose a "Partner Garden" somewhere else in the northern hemisphere.
As the seasons change, compare weather, climate, geography and other variables. >>

These tulip planters could be your Partner Gardeners!

Photo: Teri Bickmore

Thinking Like a Scientist: Explore "What if...?"

When you plant tulips according to Journey North's rules, questions are bound to arise:

  • What if we plant them upside down?
  • What if we planted them 4" deep? 10" deep?
  • What if we painted them blue? Would the flower be blue?

After you have planted your "Official" garden, choose a "good" question and design an experiment to test and explore your ideas.

  • Use this worksheet (and lesson ideas) to define and organize your experiment. >>
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  • Watch a video: Planting an Experimental Garden >>
Explore: The Microclimate Challenge
Once you plant your "Official" Journey North Garden in the place that BEST matches your general climate you can try a new challenge! Here's the challenge:
Cause 2 tulip bulbs to bloom as many days apart as possible.

Here's how:
Explore your schoolyard to find microclimates: areas where it might be
colder, windier, warmer, or drier than your Official garden spot. Plant a few tulips in each spot. Find out more! >>

Read All About It
The Microclimate Challenge: Exploring Garden Sites
Another downloadable booklet to print or view as a slideshow.

Resources: This Week's Tulip Garden Resources
  • Take-home Tulip Garden: Repeating the Experiment >>
  • Student Portfolios as Visual Organizers for Journey North: Assessment tool >>
  • Tulip Garden Journals (click-and-print) >>
More Journey North Lessons and Teaching Ideas!

The Next Tulip Garden Update Will Be Posted on December 13, 2007.