Rockledge students track onset of spring via tulip

‘‘It makes them part of a bigger picture,” said fourth grade teacher Frances Koontz, who initiated the annual project at Rockledge 10 years ago.

Students planted approximately 100 locally purchased bulbs in November and have since charted their growth, dating the first emergence of a Red Emperor tulip stalk on Jan. 23. Tulips were chosen as the control flower because they are able to grow across all of North America. No native plants can be found across the entire continent.

‘‘Spring comes around the coastline first and then to the middle [of the continent],” said fourth-grader Bryce Rakshys, explaining the difference in tulip growth throughout the county.

On Monday, students measured their tallest tulip stem at 10 centimeters and many predicted the flowers would bloom by the end of March.

‘‘Look how tall that one is!” exclaimed fourth-grader Angela Barzanti as she leaned over the tulip garden’s small enclosure to get a closer look at the growth of her bulb.

Barzanti, who tends flowers at home with her mother, was one of several students who had gardening experience prior to the tulip study. For others, though, the garden was the first trial for aspiring green thumbs. Regardless of their gardening experience, Koontz said the study is always a favorite because students get to spend time outside and get their hands dirty in the process of planting and digging up a few bulbs for observation. She values the lessons the study teaches, including the scientific process and the awareness of the seasons.

Journals, rulers and sketches in hand, students chart their bulbs’ growth, which they measure against experimental bulbs they chose to raise in the classroom and douse with differing amounts of salt water. Monday, students dug up their indoor bulbs, comparing the dead plants with those thriving outdoors.

‘‘I don’t think it’s going to even emerge because it’s not growing vines,” said Rakshys of a bulb that has received four teaspoons of salt a week.

Students will continue to track the growth of their tulips through the end of the school year. As perennial flowers, the tulips will bloom again next spring. However, Koontz said she plans to have next years’ fourth-graders dig up the bulbs to examine them and then start the experiment over with a new crop.

E-mail Andrea Noble at anoble@gazette.net.