We were able to get out and enjoy our spring temperatures this afternoon, completing a tree study of our Tulip tree as part of our on-going year-long tree study for the Outdoor Hour Challenge.
- Leaves are showing on many of the branches but there is still lots of growing that needs to happen.
- The seeds from last fall are still visible on many of the branches. Hard to believe it still has that many.
- We did not see any insects or birds this afternoon but this tree is a favorite of our early morning robin, the Western scrub jays, and the white-breasted nuthatch. We see them in this tree daily now.
- The leaves were all very small but we did compare a few and they are the same shape.
- There are lots of changes in the leaves and colors since the fall and winter. The shape of the tree is different as well because all of our freak winter snow broke off many of the branches in this tree…a few ending up on the roof of our house.
- We discovered that we will not be able to use the activity on page 626 to measure the height of our tree. The tree’s shadow lands squarely on the roof of our house in the morning. I am going to ask my husband if he can help us figure out how to accomplish the task.
We came back inside with one of the leaves and my son and I both sketched it into our nature journals.
His is very simple while I took a little more time and played with my watercolor pencils and my Prismacolor pens.
We found this interesting website on our tree: Yellow poplar or Tulip Tree. This tree is not native to California, but many choose it to grow as a shade tree. We like the shade as well as the leaf shape and the flowers later in the spring.
Here are our autumn and winter blog entries for this tree.
It is not too late to get outdoors and start observing a tree. You can even start this season and continue over the next year. The best way to observe your tree is to go outside and quietly sit and look at your tree. You may be surprised and see some visitors as you sit. I am anxious to see how your family’s tree has changed since the last time you reported in.
great post! Your journal entries look fantastic. Our family went out yesterday to collect those new leaves from our oak,tulip and maple trees to make a stained glass waxing of them…our way to preserve spring!
In our Exploring Creation through Botany science book we learned how to estimate the height of a tree without using it’s shadow.They use proportionality.
1. Measure how tall you are with a tape measure (or the person who will stand next to the tree for a comparison).
2.Have the person you measured stand next to the tree.
3.Holding a 12 inch ruler out at arms length, walk away from the tree until it looks like the ruler is right next to the tree.
4. Pull the ruler back towards your face until the ruler looks like it is as tall as the tree. If you need to back up or get closer to the tree it ok.
5. Once the ruler is as tall as the tree, and without moving, move the ruler so it appears to be next to your helper and measure the person standing right next to the tree using the numbers on the ruler.
6.Take the measurement you got in step 5 and divide it into 12. (if your helper appeared to be 2 inches tall I would divide 12 by 2 to get 6).
7. Take your answer from step 6 and multiply it by the actual height of your helper (measured in step 1).Ex: 5 1/2 ft. x 6 = 33 ft.
This is how we measured our trees in our yard. Hope it helps.
Thanks! I will have to see if we can make that work. The only thing is that I would predict I will be in my neighbor’s front yard by the time I can finish step 4. Won’t they be surprised!
Thanks again.
Barb
What a beautiful tree! And your journal entries are absolutely gorgeous.