This article offers a great opportunity for you and your students to step out into the greening forests, learn about tree flowers, and collect data that contribute to real scientific investigations in phenology. Phenology is the study of the relationship between climate and periodic biological phenomena-in this case, the flowering of forest trees and shrubs. Scientists have become particularly interested in plant phenology in recent years because it provides a means for assessing the ecological impacts of global climate change.
 
Take your students into the forest-preferably once a week if possible- to observe the phenology of forest plants. Have each student select a particular specimen to track throughout the spring, and mark it with forester's flagging on which the student can write his name. In a field journal, the student should make observations, in writing and sketches (and photographs, if they wish) of the tree's spring unfolding. If possible, the student should follow the plant from bud swelling through seed production and dispersal.

In the article, Mance provides a link to the USA National Phenology Network, which is seeking volunteers to help them monitor some 200 plant species found across the United States, everything from lilacs to red maples. Get your students involved in this impressive nationwide monitoring program, so they learn the process of collecting data for a real scientific research project. The website offers clear, concise written instructions and training videos to guide your students through the process.

Website:  The American Museum of Natural History has a good information page on keeping a science field journal, which will be helpful to your students.