Mystery Class Update: February 7, 2003
Today's Report Includes:
- First Greetings from Your Secret Mystery Friends
- Tune In
- Got Graph Paper?
- What Time Is It? Challenge Question #1
- Teacher Tip: Visualizing the 24-Hour Clock
- This Week's Sunrise/Sunset Times
- Note to Teachers: It's Wise to Organize
- Teacher Tip: Thinking Big and General Organization
- Note to Teachers: Plan Ahead and Mark Your Calendars
First Greetings from Your Secret Mystery Friends
It's time to begin your global quest! Today, you'll start following the sun and beginning your search to uncover the 10 secret Mystery Classes hiding around the globe.
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| What's
on the Horizon? Watch It Now |
You'll find the first sunrise and sunset times from all 10 secret Mystery classes below. We'll continue to provide their sunrise/sunset times each week, and we'll also "leak" a few clues from them later in the season. They'd just love to tell you where they are, but for now you're on your own--their lips are sealed!
Tune In
Take a look at this video from Journey North's Julie Brophy to
see what's coming in the Mystery Class Activity (See calendar below too).
Got Graph Paper?
In our Reminder report last week, we asked you to record your first sunrise/sunset data for your hometown for Monday, Feb 3. Now you'll find the sunrise/sunset data for that date from your Mystery friends too. After you've calculated the photoperiods from the first set of sunrise/sunset data, you can plot those photoperiods on your graph. What can you tell from the graph about the locations of the Mystery Classes?
What Time Is It?
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.)
Teacher Tip:
Visualizing the 24-hour Clock
Get helpful insights on using a 24 hour clock from Kingwood, TX Teacher
Jo Leland
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, February 3, 2003
| MYSTERY CLASS |
SUNRISE |
SUNSET |
| #1 |
07:06 |
16:59 |
| #2 |
07:08 |
18:23 |
| #3 |
05:36 |
18:31 |
| #4 |
06:22 |
17:44 |
| #5 |
08:15 |
17:21 |
| #6 |
07:33 |
19:08 |
| #7 |
00:00* |
00:00* |
| #8 |
06:33 |
18:39 |
| #9 |
08:21 |
17:45 |
| #10 |
05:55 |
17:41 |
* Journey North Mystery Class #7 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
Here are some suggestions on how to organize your Class:
1. Divide Your Class into Eleven Groups.
Give each group responsibility for one of the 10 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:
A) One copy of the Mystery Class Datasheet, to record
sunrise/sunset times for each site:
- Mystery Class Datasheet (11 copies)
B) One copy of the Mystery Class Graph to show the changing photoperiods. Available for downloading below, or alternatively, students can make their own Mystery Class Graph.
Mystery Class Graph 2003 (Download in either a PDF or Word):
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Teacher Tip: Thinking Big and General Organization
Why not think BIG when it comes to graphing the ten secret sites? Afterall, they're hiding all over this BIG planet! We recommend the large wall graph used by Cathie Plaehn, veteran Fifth Grade Teacher and member of Journey North's Advisory Board.
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:
We always welcome tips from practicing Journey North teachers. Please share your ideas! jnorth@learner.org
Note to Teachers: Plan Ahead and Mark Your Calendars
Here's the 2003 Mystery Class Schedule so you know what to expect from Journey North. Please be sure to plan ahead.
Mystery
Class Calendar 2003 |
| February 7- April 18: | Each Friday, Sunrise/Sunset Times are posted for the ten Mystery Sites. |
| March 14: | The "Longitude Clue" is posted. |
| March 21, 28, April 4, 11 & 18: | Interdisciplinary clues from the Mystery Sites are posted each week. (Please Note--out of fairness to all participants, we will only post the clues on their scheduled dates.) |
| April 25: Deadline for Your Answers! | No late entries will
be accepted (out
of fairness to all participants, no exceptions.) |
| May 2: | Mystery Sites Revealed! |
| May 9: | Meet Your Mystery Friends! |
How to Respond to Today's Challenge Questions:
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 your message write: Challenge
Question # 1
3. In the body of EACH message, give your answer to ONE of the questions
above.
The Next Mystery Class Update Will Be Posted on February 14, 2003
Copyright 2003 Journey
North. All Rights Reserved.
Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form
