Can Plants Tell Stories?

Transcription

1 Can Plants Tell Stories? A BudBurst Buddies Adventure budburstbuddies.org

2 Can plants tell stories? Grandpa told Lily and her friend Sage that they could. Lily and Sage were not so sure. The tree in Lily s front yard was not saying anything. Just as I thought, said Lily. This tree can t talk. Grandpa smiled and said, You are right, Lily. Plants can t talk, but they can tell stories about the seasons. Can you name the seasons? 2 of 7

3 Have you noticed when winter turns to spring, the little buds on trees and shrubs get bigger? said Grandpa. If you watch carefully, you can see the little buds burst open. In the summer, there will be lots of leaves and flowers. And when summer turns to fall, you can see fruit appear and leaves change color and fall off. In fact, said Grandpa, I heard that scientists with Project BudBurst were looking for kids to help them watch trees and shrubs as the seasons change. Have you seen plants change over the seasons? 3 of 7

4 Lily and Sage wanted to help. But first, they had to find a tree or shrub to watch! Grandpa gave them each a notebook and helped them explore their neighborhood in search of trees and shrubs. I want to watch the apple tree in my front yard, said Lily. Sage explored his mom s garden and picked his favorite shrub to watch. Which plant will you watch in your neighborhood or backyard? 4 of 7

5 Lily and Sage were excited to get started. They used their notebooks to write about their plants. My shrub does not have any leaves or flowers just yet, said Sage But I can see little buds. I will come back tomorrow to see if anything has changed. My apple tree has lots of little buds! Lily exclaimed. I can t wait to see the buds turn into flowers and leaves. 5 of 7

6 Every day, Lily and Sage visited their plants. They wrote down what they saw in their notebooks. They were excited when the buds finally burst open. Each day, there were lots more leaves and flowers. Later, as summer turned to fall, fruit started to appear and leaves began to change color and fall off. They flipped through their notebook pages. Wow, said Sage. We wrote lots of notes. My shrub has really changed over the seasons. So did my apple tree, said Lily. I never knew that watching plants would be so interesting. 6 of 7

7 Are you ready to share what you learned with the scientists at Project BudBurst? asked Grandpa. The Project BudBurst scientists were very happy to get the notes from Lily and Sage. The kids each got a certificate thanking them for their help. Now we are official BudBurst Buddies, said Lily. Cool! Plants really can tell stories about the seasons, said Sage. I wonder what my shrub will do next year? Are you ready to watch plants? Become a BudBurst Buddy. The End 7 of 7

8 Teachers Implementation Guide BudBurst Buddies (budburstbuddies.org) was designed for you, the Elementary School Teacher. The Teachers Implementation Guide includes an overview of the resources and background necesary to implement BudBurst Buddies in your classroom. The Teachers Implementation Guide includes brief overviews/discussions of: BudBurst Buddies Materials Classroom Implementation Suggestions Additional Resources About BudBurst Buddies SM BudBurst Buddies is a companion to Project BudBurst (budburst.org), encouraging young learners to make simple observations of how plants change during the growing season. By following the explorations of Lily and Sage, kids can undertake their own scientific investigation that includes making observations and reporting them online. Budburst Buddies is intended to help young learners at an elementary learning level become aware that plants respond to changing seasons. Photos (left to right) courtesy of North Dakota National Wildlife Refuges, John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge, and Denver Botanic Gardens

9 Classroom Implementation Guide BudBurst Buddies Name Implementing Project BudBurst into your classroom is relatively easy, as you can incorporate it into your existing required curriculum where appropriate. You may want to work with other teachers in your building or district to determine where the BudBurst Buddies materials best fit into your curriculum. About My Plant Let me tell you some things about my plant! My plant is: A tree. A shrub. There are lots of other types of plants too. For BudBurst Buddies, it s best to choose a tree or shrub to watch. Plants come in all different sizes. The top of my plant is: So tall that I have to look up to see the top of it. About as tall as me. Above my knee but shorter than me. Lower than my knee. I can put my arms around my plant... Yes No To participate, students pick a tree or shrub to watch and make multiple observations of that plant during the year. Following the format of the BudBurst Buddies Journal, students note the dates when they make observations and look to see if their plant has bare twigs/branches, flowers, leaves, seeds or fruit. If they make at least four observations and submit them on the Report What You Saw page, they will receive an official BudBurst Buddies certificate. We recommend reading the Can Plants Tell Stories? storybook to your students, passing out a set of journal Plants are found in different sorts of places. My plant is: Near a building... Yes No Alone... Yes No Near other plants... Yes No Near a street or BudBurst sidewalk... Buddies Yes No Enter your reports online! Plant Report #1 This is a report about what my plant is like on this date: Today, my plant has: No leaves Little Buds Flowers Leaves Seeds or Fruit Draw a picture of your plant. Enter your reports online! Name Month Day Year Here s a picture I drew of what my plant looks like now: I also noticed:

10 pages to each student and finding a tree or shrub in your school yard that your students can observe. Students can all make observations of the same plant or different plants. If you and your students have access to a computer lab, you can have each student create their own BudBurst Buddies account and enter their own observations. Make three additional visits to your tree or shrub with the class throughout the year and have your students enter their observations after each visit. Once the class has reported four observations of their tree or shrub, they will have the option of printing a customized BudBurst Buddies certificate. Alternatively, if you don t have access to a computer lab, students can observe the same plant. You, the teacher, can then enter the data online as one account and set of observations for the entire class. Make three additional visits to your tree or shrub with the class throughout the year and enter the observation to your class account after each visit. Once the class has reported four observations of their tree or shrub, you will have the option of printing a BudBurst Buddies certificate for the class. There is no cost to participate and all materials and instructions are available on the BudBurst Buddies web site (budburstbuddies.org). Photos courtesy of Chicago Botanic Garden

11 The BudBurst Buddies Website All of the materials you need to implement BudBurst Buddies can be found on the website: budburstbuddies.org Here you can: Create a Username and Password for your class (or individual students) Download and Print Journal Pages Describe Your Plant Report Your Students or Class Observations View Your Observations Print BudBurst Buddies Certificates for your students The next few pages of this Implementation Guide will walk you through each of these steps on the BudBurst Buddies website.

12 1. Create a Username and Password for your class or students 2. Download and Print Journal Pages

13 3. Describe Your Plant 4. Report Your Class Observations

14 5. View Your Observations 6. Print Certificates for individual students......or your whole class!

15 Extensions for BudBurst Buddies Family Science Families can participate in BudBurst Buddies too! Grandpa helped Sage and Lily learn how to observe the plants around them and you can participate in BudBurst Buddies with a child you know as well. Download the storybook, read it aloud with the child(ren) and head outside with the Journal Pages to find a plant to observe. After you ve made an observation together, log on to a computer and enter your observation online. If you don t have access to a computer at home, your local public library might have one that you an use. Log on to budburstbuddies.org, create a username and password for the child and help them enter their observations. Once the child has made at least four observations, they can print their own customized BudBurst Buddies Certificate. Today my shrub has flowers! Today my tree has little buds! Today my plant has leaves! Is there a shrub or tree in your neighborhood? Keep a close watch and record the days when it flowers, fruits, and produces its first leaves. Photos courtesy of Paul Alaback and Sarah Newman

16 Felt Finger Puppets Felt finger puppets are a great arts and crafts project to accompany the Can Plants Tell Stories? storybook. With the help of an adult, kids can make felt finger puppets of Lily and Sage and a puppet that looks like themselves. Adults or kids can use the puppets while you read the storybook and take them along outside when you look for a plant to observe. Finger puppets can help you animate the storybook and help the kids be involved with the storytelling. You can also encourage the kids to make up their own BudBurst Buddies adventure with the finger puppets. Additional Project BudBurst Activities Looking for more ideas for getting kids interested in plants? There are lots of K-4 plant activities on the Project BudBurst website. Full descriptions of the activities listed below can be found at Root Roundup Pulling the Water Chain Breathing Plants Operation Flower Dissection How Seeds Travel Making a Joyful Noise The Wander of Pollen Ecosystem Exploration Pick-a-Plant In the Neighborhood Colors in Nature Leafy Combo Photo courtesy of and Denver Botanic Gardens

17 BudBurst Buddies is brought to you by: The National Ecological Observatory Network s Project BudBurst SM Project BudBurst is a national phenology and climate change field campaign that uses scientifically approved protocols to collect data that is freely available for use by scientists and educators. Credits BudBurst Buddies story written by Sandra Henderson, Lisa Gardiner, and Kat Bevington Illustrations by Lisa Gardiner Teacher Implementation Guide developed by Sarah Newman Print Layout by Sarah Newman, Leslie Goldman, and Kat Bevington