Mystery Class Update: March 21, 2003
Today's Report Includes:
Clueless No More!
Well, guess what we received in our mailbox? We've got the first clues from
the secret Mystery Classes themselves! Special thanks to the 10 secret Mystery
Sites around the world (shhh, you know who you are). They all worked very
hard preparing their clues for you below.
And we've worked hard too, sorting through all the clues carefully, to
get them ready to come your way. Just take a look at the Journey North
staff reviewing the clues:
Over the next four weeks, we'll provide more clues from your secret friends
every week to help you with your search. Now that you've estimated approximate
Longitude with GMT, all you need to know is the Latitude of each place
and you're there! Good luck to you all!
Did you find the GMT calculations challenging last
week? You're not alone. Imagine what it must have been like for the man
who solved the "Longitude Problem" for the very first time!
Read the fascinating TRUE story of how one man, an English clockmaker,
solved this million dollar mystery back in the 1700's:
All Things Being Equal?
A few weeks ago, we asked you to think about what your graphs would look
like on the Equinox. It is said that on the Equinox, every place on Earth
has the same amount of daylight and night, twelve hours each. Is that what
you discovered? As some of you saw, many locations do not appear to have
EXACTLY twelve hours of equal day and night on the Equinox. This made us
wonder:
Challenge Question #3:
"Why don't all locations appear to have EXACTLY twelve hours of
day and night on the Equinox?"
(To respond to this question, please follow the instructions
below.)
Speaking of the Equinox--Seeing
Anything Out of the Eggstraordinary?
When will your egg stand
on end?
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Have you been conducting your egg balancing tests? Did the eggs balance
on the Equinox? How about in your tests in the previous few weeks? How are
things "standing" (or not) at this point?
Keep up your testing for the next two weeks. We'll ask you to send in your
comments very soon. People always wonder about this eggsistential experiment--just
look at this question we received previously:
Myth or Mythstaken?
"Hi Journey North staff, Perhaps you can help. I have a colleague
at school who firmly believes that an egg can only be balanced on its
end at the Equinox. She was out today at 2:17 EST and managed to balance
an egg on its end. I do not believe she tries to do this at any other
time of the year. I have suggested that she needs to try this just as
hard at other times of the year to establish that it is not just at
the Equinox that the balancing act can be achieved. She *believes* that
it can only happen at the exact Equinox. I know of no reason why this
should be so. I realize this is out of your ordinary field of expertise,
but has anyone there heard of this myth, or is it me that is 'mythstaken'?"
Keep testing, and stay tuned!
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 17, 2003
MYSTERY CLASS |
SUNRISE |
SUNSET |
#1 |
05:58 |
17:57 |
#2 |
06:38 |
18:41 |
#3 |
05:53 |
18:04 |
#4 |
05:56 |
18:00 |
#5 |
06:45 |
18:41 |
#6 |
07:13 |
19:17 |
#7 |
00:00* |
00:00* |
#8 |
06:27 |
18:34 |
#9 |
06:59 |
18:56 |
#10 |
05:40 |
17:45 |
* Journey North Mystery Class #7 reported 00:00 for their times
and said "Watch for a big change soon--we can hardly wait to take
off the sunglasses!"
(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 |
Clues
|
#1: |
"Our
school is a stone's throw from an international border." |
#2: |
"Our
country gained it's independence from Britain." |
#3: |
"We
have a tropical climate with rain heavily falling from January to
March and even cyclones could hit us during this time.
"People
are of Afro-Indonesian origin, divided into 18 'tribes' or clans,
and other races in our country include Indian/Pakistani, Chinese
and European." |
#4: |
"Our
country shares an island with another country whose official language
is different from our country's two official languages." |
#5: |
"There
has been political drama in our country over the last year, as our
new government reigned for less than 3 months before it fell." |
#6: |
"If
you enjoy watching birds, our country has over 560 species. We have
many interesting trees, including the kapok, the baobab, and palm
trees. It is believed that our kapok trees harbor spirits, which
protect our people." |
#7: |
"Everything
that exists at this site (other than Nature's work) was brought
in here loaded in the back of a LC130 aircraft. Wheels on the landing
gear of that plane don't work too well here, so they attach these
to the bottom of the landing gear of the plane.
(By the way, this may or may not be a picture of
me.")
|
#8: |
"Our
country's President has been in power for more than 35 years." |
#9: |
"Our
country shares borders with 8 countries." |
#10: |
"Our country is bordered
by an Ocean on one side and a Sea on the other." |
Clues Calendar:
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 4, 11 & 18 |
We'll give instructions on how and
when to send in your answers for the April 25 deadline. |
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
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 your message write: Challenge
Question # 3
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
March 28, 2003
Copyright 2003 Journey
North. All Rights Reserved.
Please send all questions, comments, and suggestions to our feedback form
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