Journey North International Plant Study

Wrapping it Up: Portfolios Unfold in Ithaca

Pat Gaines, the Fifth Grade teacher who directed the tulip experiments at Belle Sherman in Ithaca, NY has some concrete ideas for teaching her students. In describing her overall goals to Journey North this is what she said:
"I want to see the students involved in a science project that is much bigger than our classroom. To see science as an investigation - collection of data, controlling variables, observing, etc."

Her fifth graders presented their tulip project using small, home-made portfolios. The beauty of these student-made organizers is they become a collection place AND a reflection of their year-long involvement in a science project much bigger than their own classroom.

How did your tulip experiments “unfold” this year? What did you learn from your tulip investigations? Did you plant bulbs upside down? Did you vary the depth when you planted your bulbs? What about the “Microclimate Challenge?”