Lesson Plan: Meet a Tulip – Up Close and Personal
Supporting: Grade 3 Science & Technology: Growth & Changes in Plants
Updated: Nov 16, 2015
Learning Targets: By the end of the lesson, students will know the bulb part names; be able to describe each part; list the needs of living things to grow (and thrive); draw the bulb at time of planting and imagine the stages of growth until it blooms.
Learning Skills: By the end of this lesson students will have demonstrated…
Responsibility Self-regulation
OrganizationIndependent work
Primary Group Activity: learning about the tulip bulb and how to plant in the best location
10-15 min
Question: What is a bulb?
Answer 1: Abulbis next year's plant neatly packaged and surrounded by scale leaves, immature leaves, flower stems, and sometimes even flower buds. The wholebulbis neatly wrapped in a papery brown tunic.
Answer 2: A bulb is a specialized plant storage structure that contains everything the plant needs to survive winter and grow in the spring.
Parts of a bulb explained:
Parts: roots, basal stem, scales, flower bud, tunic
Parts of a tulip flower (a “perfect flower” as it contains both male and female flower parts):
Parts: Sepals, Stamen, Anther, Petal, Stigma, Pistil, Ovary
Question: How do I plant the bulb?
Wait until the ground temperature is cool (late Oct, early November in Oakville area).
Planting protocols for Journey North Tulip Test Gardens:
7” deep, 4” apart
Site selection criteria:
Dig the hole 7” deep; gently mix small amount of nitrogen rich fertilizer (used coffee grounds, bone meal) into soil in bottom of hole; place bulb in hole, pointed side facing up; return remainder of soil into hole; water gently to initiate root development (no need if rain is forecasted as too much water is detrimental).
Each student will plant one bulb from start to finish in a pre-determined site.
While waiting for their turn to plant, supporting activities will be provided:
Individual Activity #1: connections to art
10 min
Listen to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and either:
read the sonnet for Spring, Autumn or
draw a picture to accompany the music:
The concertos that make upThe Four Seasons(Le quattrostagioni) appeared as the first four of twelve violin concertos published asIlcimentodell’armonia e dell’inventione(The Contest between Harmony and Invention), op. 8. Vivaldi composed them to accompany a set of four sonnets—“La primavera,” “L’estate,” “L’autunno,” and “L’inverno”—whose authorship is uncertain but generally attributed to Vivaldi himself.
The sonnets’ tripartite structures align with the three movements of each concerto, which in turn provide vivid musical depictions of the corresponding text.
Sonnets: page 11, 12
Draw your landscape:
Individual Activity #2: hands-on science
10 min
Cut one bulb nearly in half from tip to root (just to one side of the pointed tip). You should be able to see the flower bud in the very center.
Dissect a tulip bulb and record your sensory observations:
Closing Group discussion question: Making connections
5-10 min
Now that we’ve explored bulbs, both inside and out, why do you think we’re using them to track the greening of spring?
Ideas:
They are an early blooming bulb, emerging when the soil is warmed by the sun. We can compare with the emergence/bloom times from historical data (are they blooming earlier/later each year). We can compare with weather around the world. They are an important food source for emerging insects and pollinators before other food is available.