Tulip Garden Update: February 28, 1997

Other exciting news:
Tulips have emerged in another 58 gardens! Remember, these are in addition to the 31 gardens reported in our February 14th report. This brings us to a total of 89 gardens! As you go to plot these gardens on a map, a road atlas will be help you locate the cities.

• Click Here for Data Chart

Here are the gardens where tulips had BLOOMED as of February 28, 1997:

Bloomed	Planted	Location (E-mail)
02/18/97	12/19/96	Palo Alto, California (surber@hoover.palo-alto.ca.us )
02/19/97	01/06/97	Baton Rouge, LA (aloysius@iamerica.net)
02/20/97	01/06/97	Phoenix, AZ (jboyer@lag1.kyrene.k12.az.us)
02/21/97	11/22/96	Rancho Cordova, CA (bwaymire@fcusd.k12.ca.us)

Challenge Question # 4
"What correlation do you see between the date these gardens were planted and the date they bloomed? How do you explain this?"

To respond to this Challenge Question please follow the instructions at the end of this report.

Important Housekeeping Note!
Garden data is getting lost because many people are not following the instructions when REPORTING from their gardens!! Please help make this study a success by following the REPORTING instructions carefully. Remember: If you are having trouble, a real, live person will help you whenever you write to: our feedback form

How to REPORT:
On the left-hand side of this page you'll see an owl button. Simply press the button and a FIELD DATA FORM will appear.

Our last Challenge Question asked, "What patterns does the map of February 14th data show? How do you explain the findings?" Everyone who responded gave exactly the same explanation! Here's a note from students in Southwest Harbor, Maine. (See comments from students in Tennessee, Ontario, and Minnesota below.)

From: MAINE
Hi Tulip Fans,
"Most of the tulips that are coming up are near or on the coast and if they're not on the coast then likely they are in a warm, southern state. The reason is because on the coast the ocean keeps in heat and lets it out slower than the land so it is warmer there. The reason for the warm southern states is because they're closer to the equator and because of the way the earth is positioned, they get more direct sunlight."
From, Emily H. and Sarah H.

Mrs.Howley's fifth grade in Pemetic Elementary,
Southwest Harbor, Maine
(grade5fh@pemetic.u98.k12.me.us)

If this is true, and everybody seems to agree that it is, then how do you explain this message from Mr. Rosso's land-locked class in the northern state of Minnesota?

"The students at Morris Park Community School in Minneapolis, Minnesota (44.5 N, -93.3 W) noticed on 2/24/97 that Ten Tulips were emerging from the ground. The students were very happy and pleased with their work. We planted over 250 tulips on our school sight. All the snow that was covering up the tulips has melted away. We have not been able to get the ground temperature yet, but the air temperature for 2/25/97 was 34 degrees F. We are wondering if we get some cold weather in the next couple of weeks if it

will have an effect on our tulips growth. The tulips that our emerging are only around 3.5 to 4.7 cm in height." Mr. Rosso's 4th Grade Class Morris Park Community School Minneapolis, Minnesota rossow@informns.k12.mn.us

This is an amazing piece of news! The Journey North office garden is also in Minneapolis but is still buried under snow. This looks like a job for an investigative reporter. We will send someone to the school before our next report. Please help us prepare good questions to ask the students:

Challenge Question # 5
"What questions do you have about the 4th Grader's garden at Morris Park School? What should the reporter look for? Why do you suspect tulips have emerged so early at this school?"

To respond to this Challenge Question please follow the instructions at the end of this report.

A Picture's Worth 1,000 Words
Read these descriptive field notes written by Emily and Daisy from Ms. Surber's 4th grade:

"At last our tulips have bloomed! The blooms are red all over except in the center, where there is a thin circle of yellow and then a thick blackish-purple circle. The inside looks a little like a pansy. Inside the tulip there is a thin, long, yellow thing sticking up about an inch. All around the yellow thing there are purple things sticking up, about as tall as the yellow thing. On the outside of the tulip, on the bottom, there is a circle of yellow. There are about six petals on each tulip. There are at least three green leaves that stick out. The stem's

diameter is about one centimeter." (surber@hoover.palo-alto.ca.us)

Each time you visit your garden you'll discover something new. You'll probably also discover that you need new words to describe what you see. A picture is truly worth 1,000 words! Use webbing to generate vocabulary that will help you be more descriptive. After each visit to your garden, go back to the web and see what new words you can add. (Any field guide to wildflowers will have illustrations and the vocabulary used to describe plants and flowers.) Record the date on your web, and use a different color each time you add to it. Watch how your vocabulary grows along with your garden!

Off by A Few Thousand Miles
Whoops! Thanks to Sheila Gaquin of Point Hope, AK (Alaska) who wrote with this correction after our February 14th report:

"The Tulip Update showed tulips emerging in CHARLESTON, AK. We wonder if this should be Charleston, Arkansas rather than AK which is the

abbreviation for ALASKA?" (sgaquin@arctic.nsbsd.k12.ak.us)

We hope you caught that mistake! By the way, another Alaska teacher wrote recently to explain why her class did NOT plant tulips. We thought you'd be interested in this note:

"We can't plant bulbs because of permafrost. The ground is always frozen where we are, except along rivers."
Joyanne Hamilton, Innoko River School, Shageluk, Alaska
gaveyinnoko@igc.apc.org

Student's Answers to Challenge Question # 2

From: MINNESOTA
The tulips grow on the south, west and east coasts because it is warmer near the ocean.
Museum Magnet School 3rd grade
St. Paul, MN
lkindig@mms.rondo.stpaul.k12.mn.us

From: TENNESSEE
We think that the answer to the challenge question #2 is because of the coastal climate and the warm winds coming up off the shores of the ocean. The winds can come up through the coastal states and in the southeast and southwestern parts of the country. We are writing you from Maryville Middle School in Maryville, TN. Our science teacher is Mrs. McGIngley.
Sincerely,
Chris Gowan, Clark Ramsey, Chase Burkhart
Lisa McGinley (MCGINLEYL@ci.maryville.tn.us)

From ONTARIO:
When we joined the dots we found out that most of the tulips were emerging along the coastal regions. We think that the weather is warmer in the coastal regions, and therefore the tulips can grow quicker.
From, Sarah and Crystal of Lakeview School (lakeview@upanet.uleth.ca)

From: Westside Intermediate School
Most of the tulips are coming up in places that are close to the ocean. It's warmer in these places because the ocean water stays warmer longer than the land. Tulips come up when it is warmer.
Alyssa Schindel, Kelly Savage, and April Blem
Mrs.Gourley, Westside Inter. wsis@shore.intercom.net

How to Respond to Today's Challenge Questions:
Please do not answer both questions in one message!

How to Respond to Journey North Tulip Challenge Question # 4

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

2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #4

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

Challenge Question # 4
"What correlation do you see between the date these gardens were planted and the date they bloomed? How do you explain this?"

How to Respond to Journey North Tulip Challenge Question # 5

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

2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question # 5

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

Challenge Question # 5
"What questions do you have about the 4th Grader's garden at Morris Park School? What should the reporter look for? Why do you suspect tulips have emerged so early at this school?"

Don't Forget!
Please include the name of your school and your location so we can credit you properly for your answers.

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