Mystery Class Reminder: March 29, 2002 Today's Report Includes: All the (Latitude) News That's Fit To Print! "Timely" Lessons Eggstraordinary Reminder All Things Being Equal? Discussion of CQ #3 Clues Calendar This Week's Sunrise/Sunset Times CLUES From Your Mystery Friends All the (Latitude) News That's Fit To Print! You've probably already read about the invention "Segway", the two-wheeled, battery-powered space-aged scooter which wheels you along the sidewalks and streets up to 15 m.p.h. But the Segway has nothing on the coolest invention that we just heard about. It's called "Latitude Shoes". This new invention allows anyone who wears them to travel aloft around the globe at their own Latitude in just 24 hours. More on this breaking story will be published in Monday's April 1st Latitude Sun Times newspaper, but we've got an advance copy for you. We hope you'll find it "uplifting"! Newspaper Article--"Latitude Shoes" Speaking of a Seque, take a look at the "timely" World Clocks lesson from Mystery Class veteran teacher Cathie Plaehn (sure to be a big help to Latitude Shoes global travelers), and the Follow the Sun lesson to understand the real reason why the sun feels warmer: World Clocks Follow the Sun We've also collected the latest sunrise/sunset data below and the next set of clues from your 10 secret Mystery Friends too. (They'd love to tell you more, but they can't right now--their lips are sealed.) Eggstraordinary Reminder Remember to continue your egg balancing tests this week and next. After that we'll ask if you had any eggstraordinary experiences in your testing. All Things Being Equal? Discussion of CQ #3 Some of you noticed on the Equinox that many locations did not appear to have exactly twelve hours of equal day and night. So we asked you "Why don't all locations appear to have EXACTLY twelve hours of day and night on the Equinox?" The basic explanation is that the idea of having 12 hours of daylight and night on the Equinox is not exact. Everyone is said to have "roughly" or "about" 12 hours of daylight on the Equinox. This is because daylength calculation can vary depending on who is doing the measurement of sunrise or sunset. For instance, before sunrise, there is twilight, and the exact time of sunrise can be observed slightly differently by different people or sources (and so can sunset time too). Pinpointing a specific time for sunrise (or sunset) can also be especially difficult when a location's daylength changes by only a few minutes per week.(Remember, your focus is on changing photoperiod each week, so don't be distracted by minor changes in sunrise/sunset times.) A more technical explanation has to do with REFRACTION of the Earth's atmosphere. As it's been explained to us, the air actually bends the light of the sun, especially near the horizon. So, when you look at the sun right at sunrise, you are actually seeing over the edge of the earth. Technically, the sun isn't there, it's just its image. This effect means that at the moments of sunrise and sunset, the sun is actually below the horizon. This adds extra time at both times of the day. Maybe an extra few minutes to each side. Clues Calendar We'll provide new clues from the Mystery Classes for the next three weeks, and then your answers will be due by the April 26 deadline. Here are some important Mystery Class dates for the coming weeks: April 5, 12 & 19: New clues from the Mystery Sites given each week April 26: Deadline for Your Answers! (No late entries accepted) May 3: Mystery Sites Revealed! May 10: Meet Your Mystery Friends! 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. Journey North Mystery Class Sunrise/Sunset Data Data For: Monday, March 25, 2002 MYSTERY CLASS SUNRISE SUNSET #1 06:52 19:33 #2 00:00* 00:00* #3 06:24 18:36 #4 06:12 18:16 #5 06:22 18:32 #6 06:24 18:45 #7 05:57 18:12 #8 06:09 18:54 #9 05:56 18:08 #10 07:05 19:10 * Journey North Mystery Class #2 reported 00:00 for their times on 3/25, and left this message for you: "A BIG change has occurred. It's like night and day. We finally had a sunset--and it's still with us--now we have no daylight at all!" Note: Military time is usually expressed without any punctuation. We have used a ":" between the hours and minutes for clarity.) CLUES From Your Mystery Friends Mystery Class: MC #1: "A bay in the area supports many species of marine life such as sea otters, seals, porpoise and whales; land mammals include moose, black bear, mountain goats, coyotes and wolves. Also calling the bay home are hundreds of species of birds, including eagles, Glaucous-winged gulls and puffins." MC #2: "Where I live is not part of a country; but many countries have settlements on this continent." MC #3 "Our economy is commonly based on vacation, and though pharmacies like to make their products here historically our economic roots are sweet." MC #4: "Our country has 3 different regions. Coast, mountains and rain forest." MC #5: "We are menaced most years by great spinning storms, but we don't call them hurricanes." MC #6: "The laurel wreath was used to crown the winners of an event we founded." MC #7: "Agriculture is the mainstay of my country, providing a livelihood for over 80% of the population." MC #8: "Our alphabet has 29 letters, 26 that are the same as English and 3 extra letters, Æ, Ø, Å." MC #9: "We are an english speaking country surrounded by spanish speaking countries." MC #10: "In my country it never snows. The only snow is on the top of the mountain, which is one the tallest mountains on this continent." The Next Mystery Class Update Will be Posted on April 5, 2002 Copyright 2002 Journey North. All Rights Reserved. Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form