Route 1

Speedier spring

July 11, 2012Ashden DirectoryApril 4, Associate Editor, Atlanta Georgia, Climate Change, Daffodils, Eastern Seaboard, Features Interviews, Fort Kent, Gutman, Interviews News, Metaphors, Miles Per Hour, Northernmost Point, Paideia School, Robert Butler, Route 1, Six Ways, sustainability, Twitter, Warm Spring

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‘Progress of Spring’ final report

Kellie Gutman writes:

The Â fourth and fifth grade class at the Paideia SchoolÂ in Atlanta, Georgia, has completed their year-long project documenting the progress of spring, as defined by the first blooming daffodil reported along the length of Route 1, from Florida to Maine. Â Their results confirm the general impression that this was a very warm spring on the eastern seaboard. Â At the northernmost point, Fort Kent, Maine, daffodils were spotted on April 4, 2012 – nearly a month earlier than last year, and the earliest in the twenty-two years that the class has been keeping records. Â The rate that spring advanced, 1570 miles in 93 days, was approximately 17 miles a day, or .7 miles per hour, which is about average.

â€œashdenizen blog and twitter are consistently among the best sources for information and reflection on developments in the field of arts and climate change in the UKâ€ (2020 Network)

ashdenizen is edited by Robert Butler, and is the blog associated with the Ashden Directory, a website focusing on environment and performance.
The Ashden Directory is edited by Robert Butler and Wallace Heim, with associate editor Kellie Gutman. The Directory includes features, interviews, news, a timeline and a database of ecologically – themed productions since 1893 in the United Kingdom. Our own projects include ‘New Metaphors for Sustainability’, ‘Flowers Onstage’ and ‘Six ways to look at climate change and theatre’.

The Directory has been live since 2000.

Go to The Ashden Directory

Warm winter, early blooms

March 31, 2012Ashden Directory10 Year Olds, Associate Editor, Atlanta Georgia, Blooms, Climate Change, Daffodil, East Coast, Features Interviews, Gutman, Interviews News, Maths Skills, Metaphors, Miles Per Hour, Northern Tip, Paideia School, Robert Butler, Route 1, Sign Of Spring, Snowfall, Southern Tip, Twitter, Warm Winter

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Kellie Gutman writes:

Our yearly collaboration with the Paideia School, in Atlanta Georgia has just wrapped up. Â Each year they send a pre-written postcard, ready to be filled in with a date, for the first spotting of a blooming daffodil. Â All of those who receive cards are within 5 miles of U.S. Route 1, which stretches from the southern tip of Florida to the northern tip of Maine. Â As the cards return to the school, they are used by the Â 9- and 10-year olds to plot the advance of spring on a map. Â When all the cards are in they use their maths skills to figure out the rate at which spring advances.

This year the winter was unseasonably warm on the east coast. In Boston, where the snowfall average is 41.3 inches, we have received only 9.1 inches. Â This is only a tenth of an inch more than the least snowiest winter on record.

Last year the first daffodil was spotted on April 5th. Â This year it was three and a half weeks earlier on March 12. Â We will have to wait until all the cards have been returned to see if spring in general was much earlier this year.

Following spring’s advance

February 2, 2012Ashden DirectoryAssociate Editor, Climate Change, Daffodil, East Coast, Fahrenheit, Features Interviews, Interviews News, Metaphors, Paideia School, Postcard, Richard Gutman, Robert Butler, Route 1, Science Project, Sightings, Six Ways, Snowstorm, Springtime, Twitter, West Roxbury Ma

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For several years we have been following the advance of spring on the East Coast of the United States by participating in the Paideia School’s science project. Â Our editor, Kellie Gutman, writes:

The letter arrived on January 7th, the address printed in a 9 or 10 year-old’s hand, with an accompanying postcard carrying this message:

I saw the first blooming daffodil on:__________, 2012
Kellie and Richard Gutman
West Roxbury, MA

The fourth and fifth grade classes track the speed of spring by documenting daffodil sightings along U. S. Route 1, from Florida to Maine. Â It will be interesting to see how quickly spring arrives this year. Â Here in Boston we have Â had only one snowstorm, and that one freakishly early before Halloween. Â Last year the school’s letter arrived on a day that Boston got 8 inches of snow; this year it was a record 60 degrees fahrenheit.

In 2010, spring advanced at the speed of 1 mile an hour; in 2011 it was clocked at 1.3 miles an hour.

While waiting for the first bloom, you might want to re-read our ‘flowers on stage’ postings, to get into the springtime mode.

â€œashdenizen blog and twitter are consistently among the best sources for information and reflection on developments in the field of arts and climate change in the UKâ€ (2020 Network)

ashdenizen is edited by Robert Butler, and is the blog associated with the Ashden Directory, a website focusing on environment and performance.
The Ashden Directory is edited by Robert Butler and Wallace Heim, with associate editor Kellie Gutman. The Directory includes features, interviews, news, a timeline and a database of ecologically – themed productions since 1893 in the United Kingdom. Our own projects include ‘New Metaphors for Sustainability’, ‘Flowers Onstage’ and ‘Six ways to look at climate change and theatre’.

The Directory has been live since 2000.

Go to The Ashden Directory