IV.A.1 Palmetto Time Line Worksheet

Team members_________________________________________________

How old is the palmetto your team observed? _________

To find out when your palmetto started growing, solve the problem below:

PART ONE

Using dates from the class brainstorming session, history books, World Almanac, encyclopedias, the Internet, and dates from your own life, list 10 important historical dates that occurred after your palmetto started growing. (Be sure to write down the event and the year it happened.)

PART TWO

1. Stretch your string out as straight as you can from the top to the bottom of a piece of posterboard and tape it down. You may need to tape several pieces of posterboard together if you have a very long string.
2. Make a mark on the posterboard beside the top of your string. Beside the mark, write the current year. The top of your string represents the growing tip of the palmetto.
3. The other end of the string represents the year the palmetto started to grow. Make a mark on the posterboard beside the end of the string. Beside the mark, write the year the palmetto started to grow. (Refer to Part One of your Timeline Worksheet.)
4. Next, figure out where the ten events listed on your Timeline Worksheet belong on your string. This requires several steps:
• First, subtract the year the event happened from the current year. For example, the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. When you subtract 1776 from 2000, the answer is 224 years.
• Now multiply the answer (224) by 1.2 and round off the number. (We multiply by 1.2 because, on average, palmettos grow 1.2 cm. per year.) 224 years x 1.2 cm = 268.8 or 269 cm.

Other examples:

1971-Disney World opened.


2000-1971 = 29 years
29 x 1.2 = 34.8 rounded off to 35 cm.

1845-Florida becomes a state.


2000-1845 = 155 years
155 x 1.2 = 186 cm.





5. From the top of your string, measure down the same number of centimeters as your answer (example: 269 cm.) and make a mark. Beside the mark, write the year (1776) and the event that happened that year (The signing of the Declaration of Independence).
6. Repeat this process for every event listed on your Timeline Worksheet.