October 2003 Week 3 Observations

Participants are listed by latitude and longitide, starting from the northernmost latitude. 54:52N-40:00N | 39:59N-29:27N | Firsts | Map | Quest [54:52N 6:17W] UNITED KINGDOM Northern Ireland, Ballymena P6/7KS Ballymena Primary School, Ms. Simpson & Ms. Lee's fourth graders WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: The weather has been mainly dry and bright. The temperatures have fallen.It is getting colder. LAND & WATER: Much of the ground is covered in leaves and we have been busy brushing them up. PLANTS: It has been windy and lots of leaves have fallen from the trees.All the conkers have fallen from the horse chestnut tree.In our gardens summer flowers are almost dead.They are turning grey. ANIMALS: We saw a grey squirrel in the grounds of the Old Folks Home and we saw a robin hopping along the garden looking for food. PEOPLE: We have been out playing every day this week but it was cold and we had to wear our coats. Lots of people have been out in the park. OTHER: This week we went out into the playground to take some photos of the horse chestnut tree which is in the park, right next to our school. [53:00N 00:00W] UNITED KINGDOM England, Waltham The Leas Infants School, Ms. Smith's second graders WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: Christopher and Daniel have observed the weather this week. They say that it has been sunny and breezy. The temperature was 14C at lunchtime. The days have been sunny with blue skies. There have been blue and grey clouds in the sky. PLANTS: Matthew says that the sunflowers have all been dug up. The vegetable plots in the Jubilee Garden have been cleared. The sunflower heads are being stored in the greenhouse. All the sunflower stalks are on the compost heap. The sunflower seeds are being stored in the sunflowers for next spring. Oliver says that all the vegetables are being stored ready to be eaten. The lovely tree has turned from orange to brown. Christopher says that the Jubilee garden is a lot different now it is Autumn. Lots of sunflower heads are in the greenhouse so we can plant the seeds next spring. All the vegetables have been dug up and eaten. We are planting daffodil bulbs ready for spring. Today the weather is cold but sunny. The temperature at lunchtime was 14C. ANIMALS: Some of us have seen squirrels running about in our gardens. We think that they are getting ready for the winter. PEOPLE: We have noticed that it is much colder in the morning and although it is sunny the wind makes it feel cold so we need to wear our coats. Some of us are wearing our gloves and hats to come to school. OTHER: Although it is Autumn we are making sure that our Jubilee Garden will look nice next Spring. We will be planting bulbs and other plants that flower in the Spring. [45:19N 75:40W] CANADA Ontario, Ottawa Elizabeth Park Public School, Ms. Chartrand's first graders WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: It feels like we have gone from fall to summer to fall all in one week. The temperatures on Thanksgiving weekend were above average - close to 20 degrees Celcius! The sky was a beautiful blue with lots of fluffy white clouds. There was some rain on Sunday night but it had cleared up by Monday morning. Unfortunately, that was the end of the nice weather. The temperature dropped on Tuesday and it started to get windy. On Wednesday, it rained all day. We got 40 mm of rain. We had to stay in for all the recesses. It was even windier that day. Some of the gusts of wind were up to 70 km per hour. Several power lines were blown down and people lost electricity for a few hours. Today was sunny again but still cold and windy. LAND & WATER: The ground is covered with all the leaves that have fallen. There are also branches on the ground in many places because they were blown down on windy Wednesday. It still hasn't gotten cold enough for most of the water to freeze yet but some shallow puddles have had thin layers of ice on them in the morning. PLANTS: The trees are beginning to look quite bare. There are more leaves on the ground than on the branches. The only green we see now are the evergreen trees. Big, fat pumpkins are growing in the farmers fields but all of the corn has been harvested and the ground has been turned over. ANIMALS: We still see geese flying south. They had a hard time on Wednesday when it was so windy. Sometimes it looked like they were not moving at all because they were flying into the wind. We see squirrels running around trying to find as many seeds as they can before it snows. The chipmunks and groundhogs are all hibernating. Bluejays and cardinals are very visible at backyard bird feeders. PEOPLE: We have to dress warmly now and wear our jackets every time we go out. Most of us have been helping our parents rake the leaves and put them into bags. None of us are using the air conditionners now; instead the furnaces get turned on. [43:07N 79:01W] USA New York, Grand Island Kaegebein Elementary School, Ms. Hartman's third graders , WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: We had very changeable weather again this week. We had a glorious autumn long weekend (Columbus Day) with brilliantly blue skies and warmer than usual temperatures in the 60sF during the day. Then we had 2 days of blustery cold rain storms with very high winds, gusting up to 50 mph. Some people even lost their electricity for a few hours. LAND & WATER: The grass was soggy from all the rain, but dried up quickly. Our class has still been able to go outside to play on the playground during recess. PLANTS: Many of our gardens have mums blooming in vibrant shades of yellow, orange, or maroon. With the heavy wind and rain we experienced, many of our leaves fell from the trees prematurely, so some of our trees are already bare, some have brilliantly colored leaves, and some varieties of trees still have their green foliage. Chestnuts from chestnuts trees are covering the ground as are the apples and pears that weren't picked earlier. ANIMALS: We continue to see birds flying south in large flocks shaped like Vs. We still see squirrels busily gathering food. There haven't been as many bees or wasps around but some of them reappear on warm days. We found out the hard way when on our trip to the zoo on October 17, Nathan got stung by a wasp! PEOPLE: Since the temperatures have been so inconsistent, many students have been coming to school not dressed correctly for the weather. One day it is warm enough for shorts and short sleeved shirts, the next it is cold enough for a winter jacket in the morning. [42:54N 90:56W] USA Wisconsin, Bloomington River Ridge Middle School, Ms. Miller's students WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: This past week, the temperature seemed like it didn't know what to do. It would be warm one day and cold the next day. The average high was about 70 degrees. The low was about 40 degrees. The skies have been partly cloudy the last two days. LAND & WATER: This week it hasn't rained barely at all. It has been a really dry year. The water is not rising, it it getting lower. The land has been dry too. The leaves are falling off the trees and are dieing. The grass is getting brown. PLANTS: Many trees have started to lose their leaves. Most of the trees are bare. The grass is almost all dried up. Many flowers have lost their blooms. Lamp Shade is still producing red berries and until it dies it will be poisonous to sheep. All this cold weather is killing many plants. [42:44N 73:41W] USA New York, Green Island Heatly School, Ms. Kirch's second graders , , , WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: The weather this week has been cold and warm. The high temperature was 70 degrees Fahreneit. There have been many clouds in the sky. LAND & WATER: The Hudson River water has tunred very dark. It looks gray. PLANTS: Our garden plants are not growing any more. Everything is turning yellow or brown. ANIMALS: We see and hear the geese on the river. They fly by in the late afterooon. PEOPLE: We need to wear coats to school. Ths week it was so windy many towns lost power. We had winds at 45mph but some places had 100mph. Some people had no power for 3 days. They missed watching the Yankee game! OTHER: We saw frost on car windows Friday morning. [42:43N 71:11W] USA Massachusetts, Methuen Marsh Grammar School, Mr. Lawton & Mrs. Beauchesne's third graders What a changeable weather week we had in the northeast corner of the U.S.A. Heavy rain and very high winds blustered during the week, so much so, that much of our color drifted, floated, stuck, and painted the streets, yards, and walkways of our neighborhoods. Some of our trees are no longer "bearing" leaves but, rather, are themselves "bare". Ominous dark and light clouds have been overshadowing blue, sunny skies. All of this leaving us with the feeling that our foliage has seen its day. Cool daily temps in the 40s and 50s along with early morning frost reminds us that this autumn season is "moving over" to make room for the next impending season. Time to take out the rakes and begin our fall cleanup. [42:32N 71:31W] USA Massachusetts, Littleton Shaker Lane School, Ms. Smith's kindergartners WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: We noticed this week that the sun is coming up later in the morning and sets earlier in the evening. It was also very, very windy this week! LAND & WATER: Many leaves and branches fell off of our trees this week due to the windy weather. The playground is getting covered with different colored leaves. PLANTS: We noticed more acorns and mushrooms on the ground. We also spied where on the bare trees the leaves will blossom in the spring. ANIMALS: We saw a squirrel's nest high up in a bare tree. We also saw a woolly bear caterpillar climbing the school wall. PEOPLE: We had to wear our coats out today because it was cold! We also had fun jumping in the leaves on the ground! WEATHER DAY: Location: Littleton, MA / Latitude: 42:32N / Longitude: 71:31 W / Hours Daylight: 11 hours, 5 minutes / Time Zone: Eastern / Sunrise: 6:59 AM / Sunset: 6:04 PM / High: 63¼ / Low: 49¼ / Conditions: We had heavy rain in the morning, with winds reaching 50mph in the afternoon. It was a very blistery day! [42:07N 88:16W] USA Illinois, Carpentersville Sunny Hill School, Ms. Grande's third graders WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: We are feeling cool breezes even though the sun is out and there are a lot of clouds in the sky. By afternoon recess it gets hotter. Nights and mornings are very chilly. The mornings are also very cold. We need jackets or sweaters. We donāt need hats, mittens, gloves or scarves yet. Sometimes at night gloves feel good though. Temperatures have been in the 50 to 60 degrees F during the day, but some nightime temperatures have been in the 40 degree F temperature range. LAND & WATER: Water is not frozen but very cold. Weāve had some rain at night so we feel damp and cold. PLANTS: Leaves are dying off the trees. Plants are dying from the coldness. The grass is not as green and is thin. ANIMALS: Students are seeing bunches of squirrels collecting acorns before they hibernate. Animalsā coats are thickening to prepare for winter. Birds, including ducks, are flying around in large groups. Some are heading south. Weather is too cold for some birds and they need to head somewhere hot. PEOPLE: People are starting to wear jackets, shoes and long pants. Out in yards, people are raking leaves into big piles. Grass is not growing that fast so we donāt have to cut our lawns as often. Parents are planting bulbs for spring flowers. Other people are clearing up the plants that have died. Some plants are brought in off patios and decks for the winter. People are staying inside because it is too cold. Families are starting fires in their fireplaces. You can smell the smoke from chimneys. Farmers and families are harvesting pumpkins and picking pears and apples. OTHER: The tree outside are classroom is losing leaves quickly.Playing in the leaves is Fall fun. There are a lot of caterpillars to inspect. Sometimes we donāt dress warm enough for the cool weather. Halloween is in the Fall, too. [42:02N 88:17W] USA Illinois, Elgin St. Mary School, Ms. Gilbert's third graders WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: This week the weather was cooler. Tuesday was a rainy day. We had our first indoor recess. The weather forecast is for temperatures in the 70's next week. LAND & WATER: PLANTS: The trees are losing their leaves. People are raking leaves. The fall flowers are beautiful shades of yellow, orange,rust and purple. ANIMALS: PEOPLE: Many people watched the Cubs play baseball this week. It was an exciting year for the Cubs. Now we can watch and play football and basketball. Our school has girl's volleyball in the fall and boys basketball will be starting soon. [41:46N 80:51W] USA Ohio, Austinburg Austinburg Elementary School, Ms. Gray's second graders WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: The days were warm and the nights were cool this week. Most of the week it was cloudy. We had several days of rain. Evening temperatures were in the upper 30s F and lower 40s F.. Temperatures during the day ranged from 50s F to 66 degrees F. LAND & WATER: Land and Water: The ground is cool to the touch. More and more trees are changing colors and the ground is starting to be covered with fallen leaves. People are raking the leaves in their yards. PLANTS: Plants: The trees are brown, orange, red, and yellow. Some trees are now bare. Many plants have died or are turning brown. ANIMALS: Animals: There are less and less insects. We are not seeing as many wild animals. We have seen birds migrating. PEOPLE: People: We wore our jackets all week. Some of us even wore our winter coats. We are wearing long sleeved shirts and sweaters. OTHER: Other: The days are getting shorter and it is getting darker sooner. Soon we will change the clocks back an hour. We are buying our Halloween pumpkins and decorating our houses with Halloween deocrations. Some of us are going to go to Halloween parties. [41:42N 74:22W] USA New York, Ellenville Ellenville Elementary School, Ms. Sharoff's second graders WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: What a week! Overall the temperature was average for the year, around the mid 60s, with mostly sunny weather. But on Wednesday, we had winds around 40 m.p.h. with gusts up to 60 m.p.h.! LAND & WATER: PLANTS: Because of the windy conditions on Wednesday, most of the leaves have fallen off of the trees. This means that the peak of our fall foliage was last weekend. ANIMALS: We are continuing to see deer and turkeys. The squirrel that hangs around the front of the school has not been seen this week. We wonder if he is holed up in the tree yet or whether he went looking for a safer place to weather the Wednesday winds. PEOPLE: We are not only wearing our jackets to school in the morning, but we are also wearing them when we get on our buses at the end of the day. OTHER: Because of the high winds on Wednesday our school lost electricity at 1:35 p.m. Some of us lost electricity for more than 24 hours. We learned how many things we depend on that run on electric and that we take for granted. [41:14N 84:07W] USA Ohio, Holgate Holgate Elementary School, Ms. Wagner & Ms. Burkhart's second graders , WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: Last weekend it was cool and rainy with fog on Saturday morning. This week the temperatures have been very comfortable for fall. Some days it has been as warm as 71F degrees and others as low as 55F degrees. We don't mind the cooler weather, we keep warm by running at recess and jackets. Lately there has been a breeze during the day. This helps the leaves to fall off the trees. LAND & WATER: This week we've taken the temperature of the water outside in a swimming pool. Even though the waterās temperature has stayed around 50F degrees, it feels very cold, too cold to swim in. For it to be safe the water must be at least 73F degrees to swim in. The ground still hasn't frozen, that usually happens later into the winter. PLANTS: The weeds in the yards are beginning to die due to the colder weather. Most flowers that were not protected from the frosts have turned brown. The "red fire bushes" are beautifully red now. During the summer they are green. This week with the wind, some trees have dropped all their leaves! Some farmers are finished with soybean harvest, and are sowing wheat. Others have even started harvesting the corn in the fields. ANIMALS: Since the frost, the nuts have fallen off the trees so the squirrels have been very busy collecting their food for winter. The birds are beginning their migration south although some birds remain in our area live in the evergreen trees and barns during the winter. PEOPLE: After a few warm days last week, we now are back to needing our fall jackets. There has been some rain, so boots have been a help too. Raking leaves is something we all like to do. In Northwest Ohio there are plenty of leaves to rake and jump in. OTHER: Our picture is of a log house that is across the street from our school. You can see how some trees are bare, some have leaves that have turned, and others are still green. [41:01N 73:45W] USA New York, White Plains George Washington Elementary School, Ms. McPartlin's third graders WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: The temperatures are slowly getting lower. We had temperatures this week in the 50s & 60s. Nighttime continues to be much cooler than the days. It has been very windy. Some areas lost power on Wednesday because of heavy winds. The wind knocked down branches. LAND & WATER: Land and water are still looking the same. Water is cooler. The grass is getting more yellow and brown. PLANTS: The plants are still growing, however, leaves are starting to change colors. There are more leaves changing colors. The leaves are beginning to fall of the trees. ANIMALS: Many animals are found dead on the roads. Some are seen collecting nuts, acorns, etc. Birds fly overhead in great numbers. When they fly up in the sky, they cover the sky. PEOPLE: More people are wearing heavier coats, as well as sweaters. On the playground we are wearing jackets or heavy sweaters. [40:40N 73:57W] USA New York, New York Trevor Day School, Ms. Guarnieri's first graders WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: Observations by Claire, Xavier and Anna: Today was cold and windy at the park. The clouds were white and grey and moving fast in the sky. It was only 57 degrees and felt like Winter. LAND & WATER: Observations by Ryan, Dan, Matt and Alvin: The grass is green and the grown is brown and cold. There is a small puddle with leaves floating in it. The ground is damp. There are a lot of dry, brown, pointy pine needles on the ground. There are also pinecones and leaves on the ground. PLANTS: Observations by Catherine, Alex and Giacomo: The leaves have been changing colors. There are a lot of yellow leaves and now some red leaves too. Most of the leaves are still green though. The trees are pretty. They feel soft, rough, dry and hard. The wind is making the leaves fly off the trees and through the air. The leaves are falling to the ground. ANIMALS: Observations by Liam,Beth,Madison and Emilio: We saw scary bees. We saw an orange and black robin. We saw a light brown dog walking. It was sniffing the ground. The animals looked soft but we didn't touch them. PEOPLE: Observations by Eli, Eddie, Kaily and Annabel: We saw some people riding cool bikes that had hand pedals. There are also people rollerblading and some are jogging.There weren't as many people outside today as there were last week. This is probably because it's cold today. People are driving their cars really fast through the park. People are wearing jeans and pants and jackets. OTHER: It is getting so much colder!! We are having so much fun doing these observations and recording them in our science journals. We made a big display of all the schools' observations and we have them all around a map with strings that attach the observations to the state/country they're from. THanks for all the information! [40:28N 80:03W] USA Pennsylvania, McKees Rocks Sto-Rox Elementary School, Ms. Raymond's first graders >WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: The weather was cool and rainy. The sky was dark. The temperature was in the 40s. We couldn't go outside to play. It is windy. LAND & WATER: The land is muddy. PLANTS: More plants are starting to die. The mums are loosing their flowers. Leaves are falling off the trees. ANIMALS: We have not seen any animals. They don't come out in the cold and rain. PEOPLE: The students had to wear coats. Some brought umbrellas to school. OTHER: The weatherman said some areas around us were hit by a tornado on Tuesday. Trees came out of the ground. Some people's homes were blown away. [40:24N 80:11W] USA Pennsylvania, Oakdale Donaldson Elementary School, Ms. Huling's first graders WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: The weather has been changing this week. The biggest change happened late Tuesday afternoon. Thunderstorms and damaging winds passed through the Pittsburgh area. We received a lot of rain and high winds, but little damage. However, just about 20 miles from us there was a microburst with winds gusting between 90 and 100 mph. Some roofs and windows at a mall and some houses were damaged or destroyed. Luckily, though, very few people were injured. LAND & WATER: PLANTS: After the heavy rain and winds on Tuesday afternoon, most of the fall leaves are down from the trees. Many trees are completely bare. ANIMALS: More geese are flying south. The wild turkeys outside our school windows have not been seen lately. However, we were told that they have been seen on the newly seeded soccer field beside us. They must like the grass seed better than the food in the turkey feeder! We have been seeing "wooly bear" caterpillars outside with wide brown stripes in the middle. We wonder what that may mean about the coming winter. Some people say that means a bad winter and others say it means a good winter! We will just have to wait and see. PEOPLE: We have needed our coats on for recess this week. On Wednesday, it was 54 degrees when we came in from recess, but because of the wind chill it felt like 42 degrees. [40:22N 80:32W] USA West Virginia, Colliers Colliers Elementary School, Mr. Bennet's third graders WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: This week the weather has really changed in WV. Monday was warm and sunny. Tuesday brought lots of rain and wind. Many trees were down and some schools were closed because of down tree limbs. Wednesday and Thursday were cooler and then Friday brought more rain. LAND & WATER: The grass has stopped growing and has leaves all over the place. Many hours are spent raking and raking. It's not cold enough yet for the water to freeze PLANTS: Trees are really a beautiful sight. Most trees on our hillsides are beautiful oranges, yellows, and reds in all directions. Walking around the school ground is very peaceful with all the colors. Even the pine trees are losing their needles. ANIMALS: Still haven't seen too many birds flying south yet. Many trees are full of birds but they are flying in groups from tree to tree but not leaving yet. PEOPLE: All of our students had on long pants and most had long sleeve shirts. Only 4/16 had short sleeve shirts. Everyone is wearing light coats at the bus stop. OTHER: We just celebrated Boss's Day on Thursday. Our school bought our principal a red, white, and blue tie and a patriotic arts & crafts design painted on an old washboard. Our principal is a Navy veteran so he gets lots of patriotic presents. We also celebrated "Parents Day" by inviting parents/grandparents/etc. for lunch. Our theme was animals. At the end of the week we had an owl and an opossum brought to the school for the students to see. [40:17N 74:03W] USA New Jersey, Eatontown Harbor School, Ms. Greebel's & Mr. Butera's students WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: This week's temperature has been mild with temperatures in the high 60's F. PLANTS: Many more pinecones have fallen to the ground. More leaves are changing colors, but not too many have fallen. ANIMALS: Animals' coats are getting thicker in preparation for the colder weather. Some birds are beginning to migrate to warmer climates. [40:07N 75:20W] USA Pennsylvania, Norristown Paul Fly Elementary, Ms. Foedisch's first graders WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: We went outside again to our special tree. It was cold and cloudy. The temperature was 50 degrees. LAND & WATER: The grass was wet today and there were more leaves on the ground. PLANTS: The tree we are watching still has leaves on it and they are golden. ANIMALS: We saw a squirrel in the forest and we saw a hawk flying above the trees. We also heard birds chirping. We think they were looking for worms. PEOPLE: There weren't any people outside today becuase it was chilly. We had to wear long sleeves, long pants and our jackets to go outside to look for "fall". [40:04N 74:12W] USA New Jersey, Brick Brick Community Primary Learning Center, Ms. MacDougall's students WEATHER/SKY/TEMPERATURE: We had lots of wind this week. Part of our fence with the garden mural was blown down by the wind. We will have to put the panels back on the fence. We saw the moon in the morning sky. Temperatures were cool in the mid sixties F. LAND & WATER: We have some light frost. PLANTS: The dahlias and zinnias are still blooming. The burning bushes are still green. ANIMALS: The goldfinches and butterflies visit the garden every day. We saw a monarch every day this week. PEOPLE: More people are wearing long sleeve shirts to school and jackets. 54:52N-40:00N | 39:59N-29:27N | Firsts | Map | Quest