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ALBANY, N.Y. (November 6, 2008)
-- For the
third straight year, Ms. Johnson’s second grade class at Giffen Memorial
Elementary School is participating in an international science project
involving tulips.
On November 6,
2008, Ms. Johnson’s students - joined by Albany City Gardener Judy
Stacey and Carol Ann Margolis from the Albany County Convention and
Visitors Bureau - planted their tulip bulbs after recording observations
about their bulbs in their personal Tulip Journals.
During the winter,
the students will make predictions on when their bulbs will emerge and
bloom, giving them one more reason to look forward to spring.
Students will then
observe when the tulips bloom and how long they live, recording and
posting the data on the Internet next spring. Viewing the results in a
broader, global context, students will then use the data to investigate
and make inferences about the relationships between geography,
temperature, and the arrival of spring.
Ms. Johnson feels
that the program is very enriching, saying, “It is a great way to
integrate students’ background scientific knowledge about how plants
live and the needs of plants with the New York state math standards of
measuring in inches and centimeters. All the while, students are able to
connect the project to something they see every year: the tulips at
Washington Park.”
In addition,
students participating in the project will also be able to take home one
tulip bulb to plant in their own neighborhood.
The City School
District of Albany serves approximately 8,500 students in 18
elementary, middle and high
schools. In addition to neighborhood schools, the district includes
several magnet schools and programs, as well as other innovative
academic opportunities for students. The district is more than halfway
through its comprehensive facilities project to newly build and/or
renovate nearly all of its elementary and middle schools. The ultimate
goal of the facilities project is to provide schools with the resources
necessary to help students succeed in the 21st century.
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