Get Oriented:

• How to Participate

Build Understanding
The Mystery Class challenge begins at the end of January. The optional lessons below build students' understanding of Earth's daily and seasonal cycles. They also help build students' skills before Mystery Class begins in late January.

• Wonder: What Time is it? (Photos of Planet Earth!)
• Reasons for Seasons: Exploring the Astronomy of Spring
  • Modeling the Seasons
  • Following the Sun
  • Exploring Sunlight and Shadows
  • Heating Up: Direct and Indirect Sunlight
• Telling Time with Sundials
• World Clocks
• Understanding Latitude & Longitude
• Latitude Shoes: Invention Lets You Travel the Globe!
• Why, When and Where Does the Sun "Rise" and "Set"? A Longitude Primer
• Seeing the Light: Recognizing the Sun's Role in Living Systems
• On the Same Day of March: A Tour of the World's Weather

Practice Your Skills
To help narrow down the 10 secret locations, each week you will calculate and graph the changing amount of daylight at each site using their sunrise/sunset times (photoperiod). Practice these skills so you'll be ready to watch for trends:

• Kids Calculating Photoperiods
• Practice Graphing Photoperiod

Begin the International Investigation
Mystery Class 2007 (January 29-May 11)

• Q & A
• Teacher Tips
• Assessment Opportunities for Mystery Class

Links and Supplemental Lessons

• Sunrise/Sunset Look-up Tables
• The "Powers" of the Equinox?
• Other Mystery Class Resources
• More Background Lessons (for integrating all of Journey North)