Pupils should be encouraged to look at the map on the museum website to see where plants are flowering first. They can also look at each schools weather data to see if this offers insight into why plants might have flowered earlier in some areas.   

Use the ‘Keeping Flower Records’ PowerPoint to ensure that pupils know how to tell when their plant has flowered. Ask pupils to log the flowering date and the height of the plant (in mm) on that date to the museum website. After entering the first flowering date a flower will appear above your school on the flower map and the date will appear on the flower chart. Ask each pupil to send in their records as flowers open, so that the website can calculate an average flowering date for your school. This can be used to compare trends. 

This is a good time to discuss the potential implications of climate change and to put the importance of the investigation into context. There are additional resources relating to sustainability and climate change  on the museum website. 

Ask pupils to create botanical drawings of their plants that highlight the structure and function of different parts of the plant. There are examples and resources to help label parts of the plant on the website.

Pupils may take their plants home once they have flowered (at the teacher’s discretion). Please share the resource ‘Bulb Care After Flowering’ with pupils at this point.