“It happened very quickly,” said Sue Jones, public information officer for the city. That’s what happened the morning of April 16 in Victorville, northeast of Los Angeles, when 60 mph winds pushed hundreds of them into a neighborhood that borders undeveloped land in the Mojave Desert. Tumbleweeds can also pile up against buildings and become a fire hazard. To prevent this from happening, California Department of Transportation crews use pitchforks to pluck tumbleweeds from the ground and toss them into large compactor trash trucks, said Cathryne Bruce-Johnson, Caltrans public information officer in San Diego. “Unsuspecting motorists tend to swerve when a 6-foot plant comes tumbling across the road,” he said, “and many times end up in an accident.” In places like the southern San Joaquin Valley they can grow to be more than 6 feet tall, said Pitcairn. Tumbleweeds cause a host of problems in California, where they’re found throughout the state. When it gets a little water, the embryo will uncoil and grow into the soil. “It has been known in Russia many years,” Dewey wrote, “and has quite as bad a reputation in the wheat regions there as it has in the Dakotas.” This is where the name Russian thistle originates, said Ayres, although tumbleweeds aren’t really thistles.Įach tumbleweed seed contains an embryo like this one. through South Dakota in flaxseed imported from Europe in the 1870s. Dewey, wrote in 1893 that Russian thistle had arrived in the U.S. Genetic tests have shown that California’s most common tumbleweed, known as Russian thistle, likely came from Ukraine, said retired plant population biologist Debra Ayres, who studied tumbleweeds at the University of California, Davis.Ī U.S. “But its common name is Russian thistle.” You think it must be native,” said Pitcairn. “They pile up against fences and homes.”Īnd tumbleweeds aren’t even originally from California, or the West for that matter. “They tumble across highways and can cause accidents,” said Mike Pitcairn, who tracks tumbleweeds at the California Department of Food and Agriculture in Sacramento. As they roll and bounce, pushed by gusts of wind, they can overwhelm entire neighborhoods, as happened recently in Victorville, California, or become a threat for drivers and an expensive nuisance for farmers. But in real life, they’re not only a noxious weed, but one that moves around. Get inspired! If you’d like to receive a free copy, then click on the button below.Tumbleweeds might be the iconic props of classic Westerns. What happened ? How did you react ? Tell me all! The Ultimate Thinking Routine List I’ve been working on an ultimate list of ALL 100+ thinking routines as a handy instant reference guide for educators, guides and creatives. I’d love to know what problems you’ve faced when you’ve asked questions in the past. Instead, ask a specific question, wait for the hands to go up and then ask that person a follow-up question. This is usually a guaranteed ‘tumbleweed moment’. And finally, never, ever ask ‘any questions?’ For more help with common mistakes when asking questions, read this. Or maybe your question was too vague and the group are not sure how to answer. So, when you re-phrase shorten the message and speak less. Maybe you included too much other information and your actual question got buried. F ollow my advice on How to Ask Brilliant Questions that Get Responses. If you still get zero responses, you will need to re-phrase your question (see below).Think about re-wording or re-phrasing your question differently. To get answers, you may need to put more effort into your question. If you haven’t had a response to your question, you could suggest a possible answer yourself and then ask for agreement or disagreement within the group.(If no-one does, you can share what you wrote down). Then ask if anyone would like to share what they wrote. Some individuals struggle to find answers when put on the spot so ask everyone (including yourself) to write down a quick response.This breaks the ice and allows them to share what they thought collectively. Do a think-pair-share – ask people to discuss possible responses with their neighbour.Ask for a show of hands, then do a follow up question directed to someone who raised their hand.So, instead of asking for responses to be shared with the whole group:
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