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Mystery Class Update: February 9, 2001
Today's Report Includes:
- Carpe Diem! Challenge Question #1
- This Week's Sunrise/Sunset Times
- Note to Teachers: It's Wise to Organize
- Teacher Tip
Carpe Diem!
Gather up your graph paper and sharpen your pencils. Today's the day your 10 secret Mystery friends have sent in their first sunrise and sunset times from around the globe! They'll continue to send their times each week, and they'll also send clues later in the season. Will you be able to figure out where each Mystery Class is hiding?
The sunrise/sunset times below are posted in military time, which divides the day into 24 hours. But most of us don't use military time very often. Instead, most of the "time", our days are divided into 12 hour sets, one for "A.M." and one for "P.M.". (Afterall, when was the last time your parents told you to go to bed at 22:30?!) This made us think to ask you...
Challenge Question #1:
"What do the initials 'A.M.' and 'P.M.' stand for anyway?"
(To respond
to this question, please follow the instructions below)
This Week's Sunrise/Sunset Times
Remember, the secret Mystery sites recorded their times last Monday, the same day you collected your own local sunrise/sunset data.
Let the games begin!
Journey North Mystery Class
Sunrise/Sunset Data
Data For: Monday, February 5, 2001
|
MYSTERY CLASS |
SUNRISE |
SUNSET |
|
#1 |
07:39 |
18:03 |
|
#2 |
07:27 |
19:27 |
|
#3 |
06:09 |
19:48 |
|
#4 |
07:15 |
18:36 |
|
#5 |
00:00 |
00:00* |
|
#6 |
07:32 |
16:58 |
|
#7 |
06:41 |
20:29 |
|
#8 |
07:00 |
18:14 |
|
#9 |
06:24 |
19:09 |
|
#10 |
07:19 |
17:38 |
* Journey North Mystery
Class #5 reported 00:00 for their times and said "when we have a sunset, we'll
let you know!"
Note: Military time is usually expressed without any punctuation. We have used a
":" between the hours and minutes for clarity.)
Note to Teachers: It's Wise To Organize
How To Organize Your Class
1. Divide Your Class into Eleven Groups
Give each group responsibility for one of the ten Mystery Classes, and give one additional group responsibility for your own site. Every week, each group can record the data and calculate the photoperiod for their site. Then, each group can share their calculations with the rest of the class. Each individual student can add the information to his or her own graph.
2. Give Each Group:
- One copy of the Mystery Class Datasheet , to record sunrise/sunset times for each site (also found at page 98 of the Teacher's Manual.)
3. Make Your Own Mystery Class Graph
(If you have a Teacher's Manual, you can follow the instructions on pages 99-100,
or the instructions below.)
VERY IMPORTANT: In order for your graph to have enough room for a clear picture of the data, we strongly recommend that your graph be tall enough to prevent overcrowding!
|
Teacher Tip For a large classroom wall graph, we recommend the example of Wisconsin Fifth Grade teacher and Mystery Class veteran and member of Journey North's Teacher-Advisory Board, Cathie Plaehn: Her class creates a huge 3 x 3 wall graph using butcher-block paper to plot the mystery! Each student-group makes their own individual graphs, and the entire class plots data on a wall graph. Because the sunrise/sunset times you received today are the first set of the season, Cathie's Teacher Tip is especially helpful because it also contains ideas for calculating photoperiods. |
- To make your own graph, use two pieces of 8 1/2 x 11 graph paper to allow at least an inch per day-length hour. Then, follow these instructions for assembling your graph:
A. Vertical Axis
Tape 2 graph sheets together, so the resulting graph is 22" tall. The left edge
of your graph (the 22" side, which is the vertical axis) will indicate day length
hours. Allow space for 20 day-length hours in total. At the lower left, begin with
4 hours of day length. Go up the vertical axis to 24 hours, and allow 4 squares for
each hour.
B. Horizontal Axis
The bottom of your graph (the 8 1/2 inch side, which is the horizontal axis), will
denote the dates of your Monday readings. Mark 11 weeks along the bottom, allowing
three squares per week. Write the following dates for your Monday readings along
the bottom of the graph:
Feb. 5, 12, 19, 26
Mar. 5, 12, 19, 26
Apr. 2, 9, 16
C. Example of a Mystery Class Graph: For guidance or for a graph that can be used by each individual student, you can look at a smaller one page example of the Mystery Class Graph
How to Respond to Today's Challenge Question:
IMPORTANT: Answer only ONE question in each e-mail message.
1. Address an E-mail message to: jn-challenge-mclass@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line of the message write: Challenge Question #1
3. In the body of the message, answer the question above.
The Next Mystery Class Update Will be Posted on February 16, 2001
Copyright 2001 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form
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