Journey North Mystery Class Spring 2003

Mystery Class Update: April 11, 2003

Today's Report Includes:

One Week and Counting
Time Slipping Away? Discussion of CQ #4
Find Anything "Eggciting"? Discussion of CQ #5
This Week's Sunrise/Sunset Times
CLUES From Your Mystery Friends
Important Advance Rules and Checklist For Preparing Your Answer
Clues Calendar: Plan Ahead and Mark Your Calendars

One Week and Counting

In just one more week, your Mystery Friends say they will run out of clues. They're wondering if you have figured out where they are located. Take a look at their latest clues and sunrise/sunset data below. Are you any closer to uncovering their top-secret locations yet? Good luck!

Next Friday, April 18, we'll send the final set of clues, along with the very important instructions and rules on how to submit your Mystery Class answer. (Teachers, to give you a head start on these instructions we're including an advance set for you below.)

Time Slipping Away? Discussion of CQ #4
In last week's update, we asked "What do you notice in this week's sunrise/sunset times for Mystery Classes #5 and #9? What do you think happened? Why doesn't this change the photoperiod trend lines on your graph for these Mystery Classes?"

The correct answer didn't slip past Wes, from Mrs. Lodge's E Period Science class at RHAM Middle School in Hebron, CT:

"I noticed all the times went up about 1 hour. This happened because Daylight Savings Time started. It did not affect the graph because they still have the same amount of sunlight just at different times."

Right you are, Wes! Here's what happened from one week to the next at MC #5 and #9. Both locations experienced a one hour adjustment or shift in their times from the prior week. After weeks of having the sunrise time grow earlier each week, suddenly the sunrise seemed to dramatically "slip" later by almost an hour, and so did the sunset. Why? Because daylight savings time started at these locations.

Why didn't this shift affect the photoperiod? Because the one hour shift affected both sunrise and sunset equally. More importantly, however, is the fact that regardless of what time we say it is, the sun stays up the same amount of time.

Please note that in the coming weeks, due to daylight savings time starting or ending, you may see similar one hour changes at other locations. Again, remember that these changes will not affect the photoperiod.

Find Anything "Eggciting"? Discussion of CQ #5

A Comic Balance?

In last week's Update, we asked you to describe the results of your egg balancing testing, and tell us whether you were able to draw any conclusion "about whether eggs balance any better on the Equinox than during the other four weeks of testing?"

Mr. Fahrendorf at Hillcrest Elementary School in Ellsworth, WI reported that his Fifth Grade students "tested the egg balancing theory two weeks before the equinox, on the equinox, and then two weeks after the equinox. The results were the same for the three dates tested. On each date, approximately half the students were able to balance eggs, the major variable being the type of surface they were trying to balance the eggs on. Our results would indicate that the idea of some type of 'cosmic balance' being present on the equinox is false, at least in terms of balancing eggs."

Astronomy expert Rod Nerdahl reached the same conclusion, calling this story "one of the oldest pieces of seasonal folklore". Read Rod's full explanation on the web.

"Egguinox" Discussion

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, April 7, 2003

MYSTERY CLASS

SUNRISE

SUNSET

#1

06:19

19:23

#2

06:19

18:48

#3

05:58

17:46

#4

05:39

18:04

#5

06:54

20:19

#6

06:59

19:19

#7

00:00*

00:00*

#8

06:21

18:28

#9

07:14

20:30

#10

05:29

17:44

* Journey North Mystery Class #7 reported 00:00 for their times and said "Still dark and cold all night and day!"

(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:

"We live in Orleans County."

#2:

"Our city has a palace, named after a bird, which is said to be the only royal palace in our country. It was the last residence of the king and queen before we became a territory and later a state of our country."

#3:

"Our country's tallest mountain is just under 9,500 ft. An important cultural ritual for many people is to remove a deceased family member from their grave years after they have died, and to wrap them in new shrouds or clothes, and then return them to their grave. This ritual is accompanied by a festival of great exuberance and joy, with food and music."

#4:

"Our country is said to have become the first black republic in the early 1800's, after revolution by former slaves who declared their independence from another country. Most of the people here are one of these three religions: Catholic, Protestant or Vodou."

#5:

"Our city is located in the north of our country. There is a large 'gasbulb' or gas reserve beneath the province where my city is located."

#6:

"Although English is our national language, many other languages are spoken here such as Jola, Fula, Wollof, and Mandinka. We border only one other country, and that country was in the World Cup in 2002. If you visit our country from June to October, bring an umbrella."

#7:

"If you visit us here, leave your animal identification book at home. There are no living animals that can survive here, except for humans. The average annual temperature here at this secret location is about -50 Celsius, and generally ranges between about -21 Celsius in the summer and about -78 Celsius in the winter.

"The extremely arid environment limits annual snowfall, however, a relatively constant wind speed of 5 - 15 knots compounds the accumulation and accounts for the heavy snow drifting common to this site. These photos show the things you might find in a closet here, and a little outdoor recreation I've seen here too. "

#8:

"A Nobel Peace Prize winning doctor built his hospital and leper colony about a 4 hour drive away from here."

#9:

"Our country is divided into about 22 regions, and 100 departments (four of the departments are overseas); and our city is the capital of our department."

#10:

"Our location sits on the Pacific Ocean, and occupies more than 40,000 hectares. People come from around the World to experience and study our plants, birds, mammals, reptiles and overall biodiversity."

Important Rules for Preparing Your Answer
When you submit your students' answer on April 25, it is essential that you follow the instructions and rules. We'll post the full instructions again next week on April 18, but to get you focusing on this early, we're giving them today as well.

As teachers who give directions and instructions yourself, we know that you understand the importance of carefully reading and following directions. Now it's your turn! Please read and follow the directions below carefully SO THAT YOU SUBMIT YOUR ANSWERS PROPERLY:

Advance Preview--How to Submit Your Answer: Instructions and Checklist
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!

Checklist: YOU MUST COMPLETE STEPS 1-10

___1.	Send your answer in the body of an E-mail (NO Attachments) to: jn-challenge-mclass@learner.org

___2.	In the Subject line write: Challenge Question #6

___3.	In the Subject line you MUST also tell us your GRADE LEVEL. EXAMPLE--your Subject Line should look like this: Challenge Question #6, 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 #6: "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/town/borough. b. The name of country. c. Its latitude and longitude

___5.	Give your answer for all 10 secret Mystery locations in ONE E-Mail message.

___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 25: 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 very hard and come such a long way from the beginning of this Activity. Let us know what you think about the journey!

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!

The Next Mystery Class Update Will Be Posted on April 18, 2003