Seasons

Slides link use it for sources:

Winter Solstice on December 21: daylight lasts about 9 hours and 32 minutes. Afterward, the length of daylight is increasing.

Spring Equinox on March 20: daylight and night are equal length. Afterward, the length of daylight is increasing.

Summer Solstice on June 21: daylight lasts about 14 hours and 47 minutes hours. Afterward, the length of daylight is decreasing.

Fall Equinox on September 22: daylight and night are equal length. Afterward, the length of daylight is decreasing.

For the first two questions below, please enter your data into the one of attached table formats. Remember to put the table (or the same format in text) into your discussion post. Copy and paste it & check to ensure your data is there before submitting!

1. The Farmer’s Almanac was an annual publication begun 1792 when George Washington was president; it includes Sun and Moon information to help with planting and harvesting crops. Open the website

a. Enter your zip code in the San Francisco Bay Area. For today’s date, write down the times of sunrise and sunset and the length of day into the table.

b. Now, using the same zip code, change the date to one week from today. Enter these times of sunrise and sunset and length of day into the table.

2. Now we will try a different website that allows you to look up the times for other countries:

a. Choose one city from the Southern Hemisphere list to enter for today’s date:

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Sydney, Australia

Cape Town, South Africa

Enter the city you chose and the times of sunrise and sunset into the table.

b. Now look up the data for Ny-Alesund today. Enter the times of sunrise and sunset into the table. Now look over the other rise and set times for the month for 3d.

c. Look up the data for Macap, Brazil today. Enter the times of sunrise and sunset into the table. Now look over the other rise and set times for the month for 3e.

3. These are short answer questions that can be completed in just a couple sentences; more are welcome but I promise no essays are required. Please put each answer on its own line with 3a, 3b, etc, thanks!

a. Comparing the length of day for today and next week that you found for the San Francisco Bay Area, what season must it be? How can you tell? (I know you know what season it is without looking at these numbers. I am asking how you can tell by looking at the numbers based on the season science you have learned this week. You will want to explain how you know based on the table numbers.)

b. Looking at the lengths of daylight, are we moving towards a solstice or towards an equinox? Specifically referring to the table data, how can you tell? What page of the Content Slides (not the video) supports your answer?

c. Compare the rise and set times for the city you chose in Question 2 with those from San Francisco in Question 1. Based on your knowledge of seasons in the two hemispheres of Earth, what season is it in the city you chose? Is this what you expected or are you surprised? Explain based on what you learned about seasons this week. What page of the Content Slides (not the video) supports your answer?

d. Is it possible to determine Ny-lesund’s season/location from the rise and set times you looked at? Specifically referring to the data you viewed, why or why not? What page of the Content Slides (not the video) supports your answer?

e. Is it possible to determine Macap, Brazils season/location from the rise and set times you looked at? Specifically referring to the data you viewed, why or why not? What page of the Content Slides (not the video) supports your answer?

4. Now we will use a free planetarium app (image below) to look at some constellations:

These are some detailed instructions but they will help you learn this fun planetarium app! When you open the app, go to Settings in the upper lefthand corner. Turn off Milky Way and DSS; turn on Ecliptic. Click on the three bars at the upper left of the larger area to remove the Settings area so the larger area is all you see. At the bottom left, enter San Francisco, CA as your location. By default, you are looking North as denoted by the N. Use your cursor to carefully rotate the land in the app until you are looking South (S). Go to the lower middle icons and turn on the Constellations icon. Now go to the lower right-hand corner and set the date to today’s date and the time to midnight 00:00).

a. List the Zodiacal constellations you can see at this date and time in order from left to right.

b. Change your location to New York, NY. For the same date and time and direction in New York, list the Zodiacal constellations you can see in the same order.

c. Change your location to Macapa, Brazil. For the same time and direction, list the Zodiacal constellations you can see.

d. Was anything about b or c different or unusual compared to your experience in San Francisco? Why or why not?

5. Answer in at least two full, thoughtful sentences in your own words. Did anything you learned this week about the seasons surprise you? If so, let us know what surprised you and why. If not, when and how did you learn about the cause of the seasons based on Earth’s rotation and revolution