Mystery
Class Update: February 3,
2006
Today's
Report Includes:
- Welcome, Let the Games Begin!
- First Greetings from Your Secret Mystery Friends
- Tune In! Trendsetting Data Is On its Way
- It's About Time!
- Option for Teachers with Younger Students: Streamline
- A Teacher Tip a Day Keeps the Confusion Away
- This Week's Sunrise/Sunset Times
- Important: Plan Ahead and Mark your Calendars
Welcome, Let the Games Begin!
It's here at last. Thousands of people are coming together this week, in the spirit of global peace and friendly competition. The international champions have been warming up all week, double-checking their equipment, and going over their strategy with coaches and teammates. We must be talking about the Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy, right?
Wrong. We're actually talking about another international competition, the 2006 Mystery Class contest. You're the competitors, and today is the opening ceremony.
Welcome to Mystery Class!
Although you won't see the ten secret classes parading around a stadium, you will start to learn something about each site. Today they're each revealing some unique data that sets one apart from the other. And they're eager to have you get started. Warm-ups are officially over--watch the video below and "Let the Games Begin!"
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"Where
in the world do you think our 10 Mystery Sites are located?"
( Tips for viewing) |
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First Greetings from Your Secret Mystery Friends
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"Hi
Everyone--Here we go! Everyone is JAZZED here. Being a secret Mystery
Class is BIG STUFF--kids and parents are equally excited here. And
we're eager for you to find us. Good luck! Sincerely, Mystery Class
#3" |
Did you record your hometown sunrise/sunset times on Monday? Good job. Now let's get focused on the first set of unique data from each of your undercover mystery friends--THEIR sunrise/sunset times, which are posted in today's Update. Even though the 10 sites are vastly different, they all have one central "clue" in common--the fact that the amount of sunlight is changing at each location. As spring sweeps across the Northern Hemisphere, day length changes everywhere on Earth. So "follow the sun" and discover the secret sites.
Once you collect their data below, you'll need to figure out each location's day length (photoperiod) from its sunrise/sunset data. Take a look at these suggestions:
In the coming weeks, we'll continue to provide their sunrise/sunset times, and later in the season we'll also "leak" a few clues from them too. (They'd love to tell you where they are, but for now their lips are sealed!)
Don't forget to record the Mystery Classes' sunrise/sunset data on your Datasheets, and use the Graphs to chart their photoperiod too. Teachers, you may want to divide your class into 10 groups. These materials can be found here:
Tune In! Trendsetting Data Is On its Way
As you work with the first set of sunrise/sunset data, take a look at this helpful video from Journey North's Julie Brophy, and see what you'll be doing as the future weekly data comes in (see calendar below too).
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It's About Time!
How tall are you? How much do you weigh? Everyone knows a yardstick measures length in units of inches or centimeters. And a scale measures weight in units such as grams or ounces. But how do you measure time? What tools would you use? What different units would you use? You'll be measuring time quite often in Mystery Class. So, it's "time" to:
- Try This: It's About Time
Option for Teachers with Younger Students: Streamline Search
Journey North veteran Frances Koontz teaches third graders and suggests, as an option, that the Mystery Class activity can be more manageable for younger students by using just three Mystery sites rather than ten. If interested, write to Journey North, and we will identify three of the ten sites for younger students. Write to our feedback form
A Teacher Tip a Day Keeps the Confusion Away
| We
always welcome tips from practicing Journey North teachers. Please share your ideas! |
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- Teacher Tip: Thinking Big and General Organization
Also see Kingwood, TX Teacher Jo Leland's helpful insights on using a 24 hour clock, which can help throughout the Mystery Class activities.
- Teacher Tip: Visualizing the 24-hour Clock
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Link to This Week's Sunrise/Sunset Data
Teachers: Important--Plan Ahead and Mark Your Calendars
| February 3- April 14: | Each Friday, Sunrise/Sunset Times are posted for the ten Mystery Sites. |
| March 10: | The "Longitude Clue" is posted. |
| March 17, 24 & 31, April 7 & 14 | 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 21: Deadline for Your Answers! | No
late entries will be accepted (out of fairness to all participants,
no exceptions.) |
| April 28: | Mystery Sites Revealed! |
| May 5: | Meet Your Mystery Friends! |
The Next Mystery Class Update Will Be Posted on February 10, 2006
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