Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Budburst Preview

Get a Jump start on Budburst by Bringing it INSIDE 


Project Ecologist John O'Keefe headed out to collect branches on 3-26-19
  Harvard Forest

 

Here is what the buds John collected on 3-26-19 were looking like on 4-1-19 after being inside by a south facing window a few days.  Notice that we included some Forsythia for fun and beauty along with native species that are included in John's  Phenology study.  

Hanover High School Teacher, Maryann Postans collected branches on 3-26-19 
Hanover, New Hampshire


Hanover HS Field Site, N.H.

 Side Buds starting to pop

Buds on lab bench waiting to open


St. Mary's School Teacher,  Mary Reed gathered these branches on 3-28-19
Westfield, MA. 


Getting Students to Take a Closer Look




I designed this science log to get students to slow down and really look closely at the buds as well as the bark.  I find this can be a good opportunity to also practice tree ID skills using shape of buds and the positioning of buds as well as color of the bark. Mostly this gives them an opportunity to track the expansion of buds and eventual opening into either leaves or flowers.  This prepares students to accurately complete Spring Phenology field sheets to track the beginning of the growing season.

See the lesson plan from the GLOBE program which is another National Science Foundation organization  supporting K-12 ecological study.  Link to the lesson at: 


GLOBE Budburst Preview Lesson Plan


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