National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior National Mall and Memorial Parks Washington, D.C. NATIONAL CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL JUNIOR RANGER BOOK This book belongs to: Welcome The Cherry Blossom Festival on the National Mall is a very special time. Once a year the National Mall is decorated with different shades of pink and white as thousands of cherry blossoms come to full bloom. Not only are these trees beautiful but they are symbolic of our friendship with the nation of Japan. There are more to these trees than meets the eye, including a great story about how they got here. This story spans over one hundred years! How to become a Junior Ranger: You can be a part of the cherry blossom story by becoming a Jr. Ranger. Just complete the activities in this book and return it to a ranger for a special Cherry Blossom Jr. Ranger badge. Did you..? Leave the blossoms for all to enjoy. HELP Stay on the sidewalks to protect the roots. protect the trees! Refrain from swinging on the tree limbs. Leave the fragile branches alone. Teach others how to protect the trees. 1 Let’s Get Started! The story of how cherry trees found their way onto the National Mall goes back over one hundred years. Here are some of the events that have occurred to bring us to the Cherry Blossom Festival we know today. 1854 Commodore Matthew Perry negotiates a treaty with Japan. 1885 Eliza Scidmore begins campaign to get cherry trees in Washington, D.C. 1910 2,000 trees arrive from 1912 Japan. They are 3,000 healthy trees are planted. diseased and are burned. 1935 First official National Cherry Blossom Festival. 1938 Women protest the removal of cherry trees to build the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. 1954 Japanese lantern presented to D.C. to celebrate 100 years of friendship. 1965 Lady Bird Johnson plants the first of 3,800 new trees. 2 Flower Identification Cherry Trees in National Did you know there is more than one type of Mall and Memorial Parks cherry blossom? How many can you find? Yoshino (Prunus x yedoensis) The most common cherry, comprising 70% of all trees. Kwanzan (Prunus serrulata ‘Kwanzan’) Blooms 10 to 14 days after the Yoshinos. Showy, pink flowers. Takesimensis (Prunus Takesimensis) Found near Hains Point. More flood tolerant than other varieties. Afterglow (Prunus x yedoensis ‘Afterglow’) An early-bloomer bearing clouds of showy pink flowers. Autumn Flowering (Prunus Subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’) Blooms throughout the year on Washington Monument grounds. Weeping (Prunus Subhirtella ‘Pendula’) Drooping growth pattern. Akebono (Prunus x yedoensis ‘Akebono’) A hybrid of the Yoshino, found near the John Ericsson Memorial. Sargent (Prunus sargentii) Planted individually on East Potomac Park. Deep pink flowers. Usuzumi (Prunus spachiana ‘Ascendens’) Branches reach upward in a ‘V’ with a flat top. Fugenzo (Prunus serrulata ‘Fugenzo’) Distinguished by their double pink flowers. Shirofugen (Prunus serulata ‘Shirofugen’) One of the last cherries to bloom. Flowers are large and white. Okame (Prunus x ‘Okame’) A small, round headed cherry which blooms with bright pink flowers. 3 Bingo! See if you can get a “Bingo” (three in a row) by finding some of these other significant items as you explore the park. Mark an X on the items that you find. Tip: work on the last page of the book at two of these spots! DRAW YOUR OWN 4 Japanese Symbols Japanese spelling is very different from English. Japanese often uses symbols instead of letters to make words and sentences. There are thousands of different symbols used in everyday life. How many do you think you could remember? HANAMI Hanami = Viewing the trees Use the following steps to create the Japanese symbol. Draw the Hanami symbol 5 Save the Blossoms Picking the cherry blossoms off2/1/2018 the trees is not allowedWord inSearch the Generator parks. :: Create Help your ownthe printable park word ranger find worksheets @ A to Z Teacher Stuff navigate the maze to rescue all of the stolen flowers and save them from dying! Click here to print this page without advertisement If you have a pop­up blocker, disable it or override it by holding the Ctrl button when you click the above link. Printing tips: You might find adjusting the page setup on your computer (changing the margins, header/footer, landscape/portrait orientation) will give you a better printout for some puzzles. OR, you can go back and change your puzzle settings to change the grid size, font size, or reposition the word list to the right or bottom of the puzzle. Create a new word search MAKE YOUR OWN WORKSHEETS ONLINE @ WWW.ATOZTEACHERSTUFF.COM NAME:_______________________________ DATE:_____________ M V D R W F O E M Q O T Q N Y CHERRY LANTERN Can you find X T B L O S S O M T K H R T W BLOSSOM WASHINGTON all the words? C W S P R I N G T I M E M E X TREE O I G O A H X P H J T C W C E RANGER Cherry Roots Blossom Bark E F M M N O F Y E N I A T H L FESTIVAL Tree Friendship M R F P B R E V A D P X U E D HANAMI Ranger Japan Festival Springtime W I P E L O H L U C U T Y R D PEDUNCLE Hanami Pagoda Z E A W S O A L H G B N N R L BLOOM Peduncle Lantern Bloom Washington S N G Z P T O R S F Q L C Y I BUD Bud H D O H U S I U A I B W O L Z ROOTS A S D M K N G V P N O A H O E BARK N H A A A U Z Z A Q G I R M M FRIENDSHIP A I D P E L J X A L P E Z K H JAPAN M P A B U D Y Q X K F M R D N 6 SPRINGTIME I J W A S H I N G T O N P E P PAGODA http://tools.atozteacherstuff.com/word-search-maker/wordsearch.php 1/2 What’s in a Tree? In the cross section of a tree’s trunk you can see many things. Scientists use these cross sections to determine a tree’s age and things that happened to the tree during its life, including sickness, disease, and drought. Xylem Most recent growth, Phloem Inner bark, transports water and the circulatory nutrients system that transports food Pith Core of the tree Outer bark Layer that protects Heartwood Wood surrounding the core Disease Left a ring showing damage If we say that one tree ring equals one Mark the pith, heartwood and Xylem year of life, how many tree rings would of your tree with an X. Shade the pith you have? Draw rings in the trunk be- dark, the heartwood light, and leave 1. low, for the age that you are. 2. the xylem uncolored. 7 Ready, Set, Bloom! Cherry blossoms don’t just bloom overnight. It takes a long time to go from the first stage to the last and they look different during these different stages. Draw a line from the stage to the picture it matches. A STAGE 1: Florets Visible B STAGE 2: Peduncle Elongation C STAGE 3: Puffy White D STAGE 4: Full Bloom 8 8 Write a Haiku! Haiku poetry developed from other forms of Japanese poetry during the 1600s. It has become a popular poetic form today. The Japanese liked this form of poetry to capture a single event or moment in time. Use these steps to create your own Haiku. Step 1: Think of an idea for your poem. It could be about your trip to see the cherry trees or your visit to the National Mall. Step 2: Here’s an example: Haikus do not rhyme so use your imagination to paint a picture with your Every spring it rains words. 1 2 3 4 5 Trees and flowers Awaken Step 3: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Turn your idea into poetry by writing a Hai- Color fills the air ku which is three (3) short lines. 1 2 3 4 5 The first line has five (5) syllables, the second line seven (7) syllables, and the third has five (5) syllables. TRY IT! 9 Gifts From Japan Are you a good detective? Visit at least one of the two places shown below and answer the questions about these gifts from Japan. 1. According to the plaque near the lantern, the gift of cherry trees was a “gesture of and ” 2. What special event happens at the lantern to signal the ceremonial start of the cherry blossom festival? (Hint: look for a sign by the sidewalk). Bonus: First Lady Helen Taft helped plant the Fun Fact: The Japanese lantern first trees in 1912, but a small plaque at the is the oldest structure in base of a tree near the lantern recognizes Washington, D.C. It was built in what other tree planting first lady? 17th-century Japan and given to the United States in 1954. Mrs. Japanese Lantern near Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial or Japanese Pagoda 1. Label the elements represented on the Japanese near Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Pagoda on the lines to the right. (Hint: look for a sign by the sidewalk). 2. What can you see, hear, smell, and feel around the pagoda that matches the elements it represents? Fun Fact: The Japanese Pagoda was shipped from Japan in separate pieces and it did not come with assembly instructions.