Journey North Mystery Class Spring 2006

Counting Down to the Longitude Clues--Two Weeks to Go
To help prepare for the upcoming March 10 Longitude Clues, last week we introduced you to GMT timekeeping and what really creates sunrise and sunset on earth. This week, the preparations continue with a lesson on Latitude and Longitude (the "global grid"); and a NEW booklet for younger students on the same topic:

Understanding Lat/Long:
The "Hula Hoops" of the
Global Grid

NEW! Journey North Booklet for Kids

World's Biggest Address Book: Learning about
Latitude and Longitude

Slide Show & Printable Booklet

Teacher Tips for the Longitude Clues
Three Mystery Class veterans suggest some other advance preparations for the Longitude Clues:

Teacher Tip #1: Washington, D.C. Teacher Kathleen Isaacs recommends two books to get students orientated to longitude before the clues arrive:

Longitude & Literature

Teacher Tip #2: Texas Teacher Jo Leland has her students practice on the Longitude Clues for some of last year's Mystery Classes, and suggests that students mark a "longitude place marker" on their maps:

Longitude Place Marker

Teacher Tip #3: Florida Teacher Allison Bailey shares tips for "Rappin'" your way to understanding Longitude:

Rappin' and Rhyming With Longitude

Try This! Eggstraordinary Equinox Experiment
The upcoming Longitude Clues will relate to the Vernal Equinox, March 20, a day many consider the start of Spring! The amounts of day and night are roughly equal on that day--approximately 12 hours each.

On the Equinoxes, some say a special kind of force occurs that makes a raw egg balance on its own end! Do you think this is true? Can there be some force that makes raw eggs balance on the Equinoxes but not on other days? Is there a scientific way for you to test this? Make your predictions and put on your lab coat-- the experiment is about to begin!

Try this Eggceptional experiment before, during and after the Equinox!
The "Powers" of the Equinox

(And please feel free to send us news, photos and updates on your experiments!)

Discussion of Challenge Question #1: If You Could Un-tilt the Earth
Last week, our question about straightening the earth's axis brought in many answers about what you thought the effect that change might have on climate and seasons. See how your observations straightened things out: