Results Report

Super Scientists! The Edina Trust would like to thank everyone that worked so hard planting their bulbs, observing and sending in their records. We couldn’t have carried out an experiment like this without your help! And now for the results… Look out for questions to along the way!

Which region had the most/least rain? West Scotland had the most rain during the project. Can you estimate how much more daily rainfall there was in West Scotland than South England? During the Spring Bulbs for Schools Project there was on average 7mm more rain every day in West Scotland than in South England.

Which region was the warmest/coldest? England was warmer than Scotland. Why do you think that is? Why might Central Scotland have been the coldest area?

Flowers will open earliest in areas where it is both warm and sunny, especially during the month of February. As you can see, during February it was warmer in England than Scotland. But Scotland had caught up by March!

The bulbs in North England were first to flower. In which areas did bulbs in pots flower first? How many days are there between the bulbs in the ground flowering and bulbs in pots flowering? 3 DAYS S AME DAY 1 DAY 2 DAYS Bulbs in pots flowered first in all areas except Central Scotland. West Scotland  Central Scotland  East Scotland 

We think that it might be because the bulbs in pots are more exposed to changes in the weather. It takes a longer time for the bulbs in the ground to get warm. Measuring the temperature of the soil could be an interesting extension to this project to see the difference in temperature for the daffodils in pots and those in the ground throughout the year. Why do you think the daffodils in pots flowered before the daffodils planted in the ground?

What do you think? Our reason might be right, but we would need to test it to make sure – that’s what science is all about!

Which region had the tallest/shortest daffodils? Using the bar chart can you estimate how tall the daffodils are? About 190mm About 230mm About 220mm About 210mm About 260mm

The daffodils were tallest in South England by approximately 30mm! This could be because: South England was the warmest and driest area on average. This year was very wet in North England and Scotland – maybe it was too wet in these areas for the daffodils to grow tall! To be sure why, we would need to do more experiments. Can you think of any other reasons why daffodils may have grown taller in South England?

Finding a trend is quite difficult but some things are clear… The bulbs rely on both sunshine and warmth in order to flower. Our seasons are becoming more unpredictable as our world is getting warmer. How do you think this will affect the growth of plants in the future?