Journey North International Plant Study Spring 2005

Tulip Garden Update: February 4, 2005

Today's Report Includes:

Ground Breakers in 2005
Capital City Garden News
Mapping Spring’s Arrival: Is there a Pattern to be Seen?
Investigating Weather
How Long Does it Take a Tulip to Grow?
Challenge Questions #1 and #2
Tulips Popping and “What If” Experiments Generate Excitement
Challenge Question #3
A Mapping Tip From Texas
Too Many Tulips?
How to Report to Journey North

Ground Breakers in 2005

First to emerge in 2005!

The first tulips of 2005 have emerged! Now we can celebrate the first flush of spring in North America! Where? Before you look, guess where they are: In which states, provinces or countries do you think tulips might be coming up? Explain your thinking.

And the award for the FIRST tulips of the year 2005 goes to...

Tulips Emerged

Now whose do you think will be the first tulips to bloom? Stay tuned...

Capital City Garden News

We have emergence! Last week our FIRST Capital City Garden showed green. Was yours the winning prediction? Baton Rouge, Louisiana takes its place as first on the list of Capital Cities to emerge. See more (below) about this garden and the exciting experiments students are doing there.

Mapping Spring’s Arrival: Is there a Pattern to be Seen?
As the earth revolves around the sun in its annual cycle we experience seasonal change. Where will spring arrive first? What kind of pattern will we see emerge as spring spreads its warmth and sunlight across the land?
Predict and follow the wave of spring with this easy to print map, chart and lesson:

Predicting the Greening of Spring with Red Emperor Tulips

Click to see larger map

Then form a hypothesis as to why the plants emerge and grow where they do.

*Extra Help
We have added red dates to this week’s map to show you when the Green appeared for emerged gardens. Click to see a larger map. Study the map and brainstorm your thoughts. Can you make some conclusions about the progress of spring?

Investigating Weather
Many of the gardeners reporting their emerging tulips have mentioned weather factors in their reports. Their weather had been unusually wet, or extra warm, or just plain unusual during the winter in their garden location. How do weather patterns affect seasonal change?

Look and Compare
Study the 2 special maps below:


% of Normal Precipitation - Dec. 2004	Departure from NormalTtemperature - Sept. - Nov. 2004

What do the maps teach us? Especially notice what weather conditions prevailed in the regions where gardens have already emerged.

Is there specific weather evidence to explain why gardens have emerged where they already have?
Can you use these maps to more accurately predict where gardens will show green next?

Keep your eyes on the weather! How will it affect your garden?

Integrating Meteorology and Journey North

How Long Does it Take a Tulip to Grow?
It should be easy to answer that question using information from a few Journey North gardens. Look at the dates each of the following gardens was planted, and the dates that the tulips emerged. Now count how many days it took for them to grow.

Town	State/Ctry	Planted Date	Emerged Date	# Days
Raleigh	NC	10/29/04	01/13/05
Kirkland	WA	11/05/04	01/24/05
Baton Rouge	LA	12/09/04	01/28/05
Palo Alto	CA	01/05/05	01/21/05

What's going on here? How would you complete these sentences?

Challenge Question #1:
"It took only ____ days for tulips in Palo Alto, CA to emerge. It took ____ days for the tulips in Raleigh, NC to emerge, ____ days for the tulips in Baton Rouge, LA to emerge, and ____ days for tulips in Kirkland, WA to emerge. Therefore, the _____ must have been very different in those four places."

Challenge Question #2:
"Do you think counting the number of days is a good way to describe how long it takes tulips to grow? What other information do you need to know about those days?"

(To respond to these questions, please follow the instructions below.)

Tulips Popping and “What If” Experiments Generate Excitement

Gardeners prove tulips emerge in 2005! Credit PMasters

Tulips showed their green to 3rd Grade students at Southside Elementary in Denham Springs, LA last week. Of course their garden was planted according to the rules, but these students wondered what would happen if they broke those rules. What if you planted your tulips upside down, in a bag, or in the dark? Well, that is exactly what they did.

Read on to learn what the experiments have taught them:

Teacher Pam Masters writes: “Who said that tulips do not like to be planted in water? Even I was surprised to observe the progress of the "What If" experiment which the student planted a tulip bulb only in water. I did not believe it would grow. Believe or not, it is. Only time will tell if it blooms.”	Hailey writes: I have learned that plants need food and water just like us. Plants need sunlight to get them energy. Plants give us oxygen and we give them carbon dioxide. My tulip bulb surprised me and came up with cold weather.
Felix writes: So far I have learned from my "What If" experiment that a plant can get taller without sunlight but the plant will be weaker without the energy it needs from the sun. That is what I have learned so far.	Mandy writes: I am excited about my home garden project. My tulip at home is 3 centimeters tall.

Challenge Question #3:
“Could you set up an experiment to test Felix’s theory that plants get taller without sunlight? How would you design this kind of experiment?”

(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions below.)

A Mapping Tip From Texas
Jo Leland, who has managed the Official Journey North garden in Kingwood, Texas since 1996, is getting smart after all these years:
"We'll be tracking tulips on a specialized map that shows where all current gardens are located," says Leland. "This will simplify things for the kids and save time (our most precious commodity) for everyone. Here's what I did:

I printed a copy of the map that shows where all Journey North gardens are planted:
I took it to the local Kinko's and had it enlarged 320%.
I trimmed off the edges so it would go into their laminator--and walked out with a specialized map for under $5.00

Too Many Tulips?
No such thing! But if younger students are overwhelmed with tulip data, follow the suggestion of 1st grade teacher Patti Prieves: "As the first reports come in, we choose 5-10 places to record on our class map. We choose another 5-10 each time we receive a new report. Throughout the spring, we keep track of when tulips in these gardens emerge and when they bloom. The map becomes an important, ongoing fixture in the room or hallway."

If you have a teacher tip to share, please let us know!

Teacher Tips

How to Report to Journey North

Report when YOUR garden emerges!

As soon as YOUR garden emerges, be sure to let us know! In next month's update, we expect to have many garden locations to report to you.

Simply press the "Owl" button to report from your site.Wait 5 minutes then refresh the map page to see your site pop up on the map. (From the same button, you can also "Go to the Sightings Database" and read comments from all gardeners.)

How to Respond to Today's Challenge Questions:

IMPORTANT: Answer only ONE question in each e-mail message.

1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-tulip@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #1 (or #2, or #3).
3. In the body of EACH message, give your answer to ONE of the questions above.

The Next Tulip Garden Update Will Be Posted on February 11, 2005.