We and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are partners with Project BudBurst, an engaging continent-wide citizen science project that studies the timing of seasonal changes in plants. It’s like giving a tree a ‘check-up.’ We facilitate deep interactions between our students and their trees. They begin by ‘meeting’ their tree, making detailed observations about it using all their senses. Then, they may use a dichotomous key to identify their tree and learn its name. Finally, they find out how their tree is doing that day by assessing it using the Project BudBurst protocol.

We have identified 10 species of low to mid-elevation trees and 10 species of high elevation trees to monitor. Any of our participants, and any Park visitor, can find a tree or trees to monitor! You can visit the same tree regularly throughout the year, or you can visit any tree just once.

It’s simple to record your observations for this project. Try it at home!

Resources:
Project BudBurst partner site

Species List

Deciduous Single Report form

On the Move Deciduous Single Report form