Tulip Garden Update: February 3, 1997

Macalister College

"Hello, Journey North! We returned from winter vacation to find two of our bulbs popping up by about 1 cm. We are really excited to think that what once looked quite dead is going to be a living plant.." Ms. McNealy, Indian Creek Elementary

"The class went out at 1:30 p.m. MST and discovered one tulip leaf rising from the ground We are really excited about finding this wonderful surprise. We weren't sure if our garden would grow well with the climate and weather we've been having."

You can read comments from each of the gardens below. Here's our first chart summarizing the places tulips have EMERGED in 1997:

Date..............Place
January 6........Placerville, California
January 19.......Houston Texas
January 27.......Pheonix, Arizona

This would be a good time to revisit the predictions you made last fall for blooming dates at each of the 10 sites. Does anyone want to change their predictions after reading today's news?

Don't Forget
You will report 3 events from your garden this school year:

• The date your tulips were PLANTED
• The date your tulips EMERGED
• The date your tulips are BLOOMING
• AND....You may send a "PRACTICE" report any time. It's a good way to learn how to use the system!

How to REPORT:
On the left-hand side of this page you'll see a blue button with an owl on it. Simply press the button and a FIELD DATA FORM will appear. If you have any trouble using this system, send a message to our feedback form We'd be happy to help you!

Ice-Breaker Round Two
It's time for everyone to start collecting daily temperature records! Two of the activities below are centered around the concept of temperature. The data you collect can be exchanged on a regular basis over the coming months with your partner garden.

• Spring Fever: Tulips, Temperature and the Arrival of Spring
• A Matter of Degrees: Understanding Microclimates
• Hurrying Spring: How to Force Bulbs in Your Classroom

We've provided temperature charts to help you organize your data. Print them out and use them to exchange data. (Of course, teachers will need to exchange snail mail addresses in secrecy!) In all of these activities, students should be encouraged to make predictions and regularly compare their predictions with actual results.

By the way, for a daily look at temperatures in North America, visit our "Today's News" page. Press the button with the sun and you'll find this "live" temperature map every day, thanks to Purdue Univeristy's Weather Processor. If you watch this map carefully, it map may help you locate your partner garden.

Here one teacher describes their "ice-breaker" exchange: (Don't worry, we won't reveal her identity!)

"My classes are so anxious to communicate with others via e-mail that we thought up our own clues to mail off. First, we decided to tell the temperature of the day and some other weather facts, such as it's raining again here. Then we figured we wouldn't be giving too much away if we talked about our physical environment. So my students are sharing that we live about an hour's drive away from an ocean and we live in a valley surrounded by mountains covered with forest."

If you have successes you'd like to share, send a note to jn-talk@learner.org
All notes sent to this address will be archived in the Teacher Discussion area. (To view the archives, press the orange coyote button.)

Today's Challenge Question
The tulip garden at the Journey North office in Minnesota has been very, very cold. One day last week, when the air temperature was 2 degrees below zero F, we began to wonder how cold our tulips were. We trudged out to the garden, dug down through 16 inches of snow, and read the dial on the soil temperature thermometer. What do you suppose we discovered?

Tulip Challenge Question #1
"How cold do you think the soil in our garden was when the air temperature measured -2 F?"

(To respond to this Challenge Question, please follow the instructions at the bottom of this page.)

Keep in mind that:

• The snow is 16 inches deep.
• We do not have any straw covering our garden.
• Our soil thermometer reads the temperature 5" below the surface.

If you don't have a soil thermometer, we highly recommend you get one! They cost about $10 and can be ordered from your local hardware store. Students can collect soil temperatures all spring as their garden grows. They are sure to look at the world in a new way. As one student was overheard saying, "I never knew you could take the earth's temperature!"

Using this thermometer students can ask:

• What's the soil temperature when the first tulip emerges?
• What's the soil temperature when the first earthworms appear? When the first anthouses are seen?
• In colder climates, how does the depth of snow cover affect soil temperatures?

Gardens in the News

Here are comments from the schools featured in today's report:

January 6
Placerville, California
Hello, Journey North!
The 6th Grade students at Indian Creek Elementary School in Placerville, California, USA, planted their tulip bulbs just before we were out for our "winter vacation" the end of November and the first two days of December. The weather had been mild with some rain. The 20th of December brought very cold weather and rain to Placerville.
bmac@directcon.net

January 19
Houston Texas
The Official Tulip Garden in Houston
We are reporting that the tulips came out of the ground on January 19, 1997. Today, January 31, 1997, three of the five tulips are growing. The first one is 1.5 inches high, the second one is 1.5 inches high and the third one is 2.0 inches high.
Chloe, Francesca, and Donna
St. Anne School
Houston, Texas
dawsonm@cs.rice.edu

January 27
Pheonix, Arizona
Mrs. Segard's 3rd grade class went out at 1:30 p.m. MST to observe the Tulip. We discovered one tulip leaf rising from the ground. It is the only one so far that we see. We are really excited about finding this wonderful surprise. We weren't sure if our garden would grow well with the climate and weather we've been having. msegar@lag1.kyrene.k12.az.us

1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-challenge-tulip@learner.org

2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #1

3. In the body of the message, give your answer to this question:

"How cold do you think the soil in our garden was when the air temperature measured -2 F?"

Please give reasons for your answer! Did you guess? Did you base your decision on temperatures in your own garden? Did you find this information in a book, magazine or other resource?

The Next Tulip Garden Update Will be Posted on February 14, 1997.