The purpose of this resource is to recognize patterns of green-up at the plant, landscape and regional scales. This activity is to prepare students to recognize what a bud looks like and the progression of green-up from the time of budburst. Students will arrange plant growth pictures taken from the bud, shrub canopy, grass clump, landscape and regional perspectives. Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to investigate the annual cycle of plant growth and decline using visualizations and graphs. Students will analyze visualizations and graphs that show the annual cycle of plant growth and decline. Students will explore patterns of annual change for the globe and each hemisphere in several regions that have different land cover and will match graphs that show annual ... Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to help students learn the skills and value of the translating complex interactions among Earth System components into a simplified diagram. Students visit a study site, where they observe and recall their existing knowledge of air, water, soil, and living things to make a list of interconnections among the four Earth system components. They make predictions about the ... Full description.

The purpose of the resource is to measure the different types of fuels for fires. Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to have students observe their lilac plants and identify the five phenophases (first leaf, full or 95% leafed, first bloom, full bloom and end of bloom) for each lilac plant. During the growing season, students will observe their lilac plants and identify the five phenophases (first leaf, full or 95% leafed, first bloom, full bloom and end of bloom) for each lilac plant. ... Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to develop an understanding of the relationship between budburst and the environment and to help students recognize actual budburst when they are doing the Green-Up protocol. Students will do simple explorations to observe the relationship between budburst and temperature. This is a winter or dry season activity to be done prior to green-up observations. Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to further students' understanding of the causes of seasonal change using visualizations to compare the effects of incoming solar energy in the two hemispheres. The class reviews global visualizations of incoming sunlight and surface temperature and discusses seasonal change. Students use the visualizations to support inquiry on the differences in seasonal change in ... Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to have students develop a qualitative understanding of the characteristics and patterns of seasons and highlight the relationship of seasons to physical, biological and cultural markers. Students observe and record seasonal changes in their local study site. They establish that these phenomena follow annual cycles and conclude the activity by creating displays that ... Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to develop familiarity with interactions among the major components of the Earth system at the global scale. Students brainstorm about the nature of connections between their region and others, across oceans and on different continents. On a black-line map of the world, they trace possible pathways of water and wind currents from their part of the continent to other ... Full description.

The purpose of this resource is to observe plant green-down and report greendown data to help validate estimates of the end of the plant growing season. Students monitor the change in color of selected leaves of trees, shrubs or grasses. Full description.