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Mystery Class Update: April 20, 2001

Today's Report Includes:


Can You Unlock the Mystery?
Have you unlocked the secret of where the ten Mystery Classes are located yet? We're sending the FINAL sunrise/sunset data and clues today. So now it's time to join the Spy Kids, and figure out your own mystery!

The complete instructions on how to submit your class' answer are provided below. Be sure to follow these instructions carefully! And remember your answer must be received no later than Friday April 27! Don't be tardy--late entries will not be eligible for the contest.

But before we go any further, we want to send a special thanks to some of the people who have worked "in the shadows" to make the Mystery Class run so smoothly.


What A Super Star! Special Thanks
We send a special thank you to Rod Nerdahl, who has been a very important contributor behind the scenes for several years now! Rod is Program Coordinator at the Minneapolis Planetarium, and helps to keep our weekly sunrise and sunset listings "on time" by researching and providing standard sunrise/sunset and latitude/longitude data. Rod is truly a "Mystery Class Star." Many thanks, Rod!

Visit the Planetarium's Web site and Celebrate Astronomy Day, Adopt-a-star, learn more about Spooky Skies, Romancing the Stars, Explorers of Mauna Kea and more!

Top Secret Thanks
We'd also like to thank the ten secret Mystery Sites which are located in. . oops! Sorry we can't say where you are--YET! Since you're still top secret, we'll save our full thanks to you for a few more weeks. Then, we'll tell the world all about you. You've all worked so hard, and we can't wait for everyone to finally meet you!


Contest Calendar
Here are the important dates for the coming weeks.
  • April 27: Answers Due! Your answer MUST be received NO LATER THAN FRIDAY, APRIL 27. (To be fair to everyone, any answers sent after that date will NOT be eligible for the contest.)

  • May 4: Mystery Sites Revealed! Mystery Sites will be revealed and the contest results announced.


  • May 11: Meet the Mystery Sites: Your new Mystery Friends are happy to finally meet you. They'll send their personal greetings and photos too.


Note to Teachers: Don't Throw It All Away!
We know you and your students have worked very hard on this Activity over the past several months. So don't throw it away by not following the instructions! Read the Instructions below carefully and follow all steps! Submissions that do not follow all of the steps below will NOT be eligible for the contest. Don't become the "weakest link"!

Instructions on How to Submit Your Answer
To submit your answer, you will be following the same steps as when you answer a Challenge Question, plus a few additional steps.

Use this list of instructions as a checklist, and check it twice before sending in your answer. Good Luck!

YOU MUST COMPLETE STEPS 1-10

1. Send your answer by E-mail to: jn-challenge-mclass@learner.org
2. In the Subject line write : Challenge Question #5

3. In the Subject line you MUST also tell us your GRADE LEVEL

EXAMPLE--your subject line should look like this:

Challenge Question #5, GRADE ____

4. In the body of the message, tell us who you are (teacher name, school name, etc) and then answer this question:

Challenge Question #5:
"Where in the world do you think our 10 Mystery Sites are located?"

* Your answer MUST include all of the following information about each Mystery site:

a. The name of city.
b. The name of country.
c. Its latitude and longitude.

6. Doublecheck your answer before sending! After you've submitted your answer, you may not change your answer and send it in again.
7. Teachers with several separate classes participating should submit a separate E-mail answer for each of their separate classes. Be sure to identify which specific class the answer is from (i.e. "Ms. Johnson's 1st hour class", or "Ms. Johnson's 4th hour class", etc)
8. Don't forget: Because we judge the contest by Grade Level, you MUST tell us YOUR GRADE LEVEL. If you do not include your grade, we will judge your answer with the 12th grade level answers.
9. DEADLINE APRIL 27: To be fair to everyone, any answers sent after that date will not be eligible for the contest.
10. Congratulate yourself and your students on a job well done! You have worked hard and come such a long way from the beginning of this Activity. Include comments from you and/or your students letting us know what you thought of the journey.


"Winning" Isn't Everything!
Students sometimes focus heavily on "winning" the Mystery Class contest, so please be sure to remind them that the contest portion is only a small part of this Activity. Also, we are aware that there are a wide range of grade levels participating, and we will factor that in during the judging.


FINAL Sunrise/Sunset Times
Thanks as always to your secret Mystery friends, who have once again faithfully sent in their sunrise/sunset data for you! Remember this information was recorded for Monday, the same day you collected your sunrise/sunset data.

Journey North Mystery Class

Sunrise/Sunset Data

Data For: Monday, April 16, 2001

MYSTERY CLASS

SUNRISE

SUNSET

#1

06:59

20:14

#2

07:07

19:19

#3

07:09

18:19

#4

07:23

19:59

#5

10:08

15:36

#6

06:03

19:58

#7

06:47

17:54

#8

06:03

18:44

#9

06:41

18:23

#10

05:36

18:53

* Note: Military time is usually expressed without any punctuation. We have used a ":" between the hours and minutes for clarity.)


FINAL CLUES From Your Mystery Friends
Mystery Class:

MC#1:
"We have a very big aqueduct through our city. A river surrounds our city and empties into an ocean."

MC#2: "Our city has 2 of the 12 tallest manmade structures in the world. Our city was founded because of the tin deposits that were found near the city around 1870."

MC#3: "The name of our city means 'I have seen a hill' in Portuguese/Spanish."

MC#4: "The second highest volcano in our country (5,465 meters tall) is located approximately 132 miles (212.43 kilometers) southeast of our mystery site. Last year our town had about 200,000 visitors. Our town is simple and relatively unchanged since it was a mining center in the early part of the 20th century."

MC#5: "This photo shows me in front of our active volcano that is 25 miles from our 'town'."

MC#6: "The trams in our borough started running in 1879 and stopped on the 7th April 1951, or so we thought! Now we have a modern Tram which started to run last year, 2000 AD."

MC#7: "Our city lies on an isthmus. Our city has the tallest structure in our hemisphere."

MC#8: "Over 2 million tourists come here a year. We have over 6,000,000 people living in our city."

MC#9: "On January 24 each year, our city holds an annual festival which celebrates a small god of abundance whose name actually means dwarf."

MC#10: "This city is one of the few world capitals not situated on a coast or navigable river. Say hello to as many people as you can--if you say it up to 11 million times, you are here."


The Next Mystery Class Update Will be Posted on April 27, 2001

Copyright 2001 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form

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