Where in the World is our Mystery Class?

1. Where in the World is our Mystery Class? Cheryl Lykowski Lourdes College-EDU 613 March, 2006

2. Mystery Class Background The Mystery Class investigation is an 11-week hunt in which students try to find the location of 10 secret "Mystery Classes" hiding around the globe. The changing amount of sunlight at each site is the central clue, followed by longitude clues and verbal clues. Students take an exciting journey from knowing only sunrise and sunset times, to discovering exact locations of the 10 Mystery Classes.

3. Mystery Class Objective In a global game of hide and seek, you will track changing daylight at ten secret sites around the world. This investigation demonstrates that, as spring sweeps across the Northern Hemisphere, day length changes everywhere on earth. You will see that these dramatic seasonal changes in sunlight affect the entire web of life. Table of Contents

4. Mystery Class supports: • Scientific observations • Data collection • Student-directed inquiry • Scientific procedures Table of Contents

5. Mystery Class Table of Contents Sunlight and the Seasons Tracking Photoperiod Calculating Photoperiod Latitude & Longitude Longitude Clues Interdisciplinary Clues

6. Sunlight and the SeasonsExploring the Sun's Role in the Living Systems You have learned that sunlight makes plants grow, some animals eat plants, and predators eat other animals. However, did you know that these food chains and webs change with the seasons? For example, during spring in the Northern Hemisphere, lengthening and strengthening sunlight and rising temperatures boost plant photosynthesis, which increases the amount of food they produce. Table of Contents

7. Sunlight and the SeasonsExploring the Sun's Role in the Living Systems Make a list of five changes you think the sun will bring about as winter wraps up and spring springs forth in our community. Think of both physical changes (e.g., temperatures) and biological changes (e.g., plant growth). What kinds of impact does each physical change (e.g., ice melting, more daylight hours, temperatures warming) have on living things — particularly on their ability to make or get food? Table of Contents

8. Sunlight and the SeasonsExploring the Sun's Role in the Living Systems Table of Contents

9. Sunlight and the SeasonsExploring the Sun's Role in the Living Systems Click on the movie below to view a short video clip on sunlight and the seasons. Table of Contents

10. Tracking Photoperiod Beginning next Monday, check your local newspaper and retrieve your town's sunrise and sunset times for that date. Then be sure to record these times for your hometown on a Mystery Class Datasheet. Just four days later, on Friday, Journey North will post the first sunrise/sunset data for ten secret Mystery Classes. Be sure to record this Sunrise/Sunset data on the Mystery Class Datasheets too. In the weeks that follow, continue to record your own local sunrise/sunset data every Monday, and the secret Mystery Classes' sunrise/sunset data every Friday, and be sure to graph photoperiod changes too. Table of Contents

11. Tracking Photoperiod Mystery Class Data Sheet You will be given a data sheet like the one above to keep track of your Mystery Class’ photoperiod every week for the next eleven weeks. Table of Contents

12. Tracking Photoperiod Once a week for eleven weeks, you will receive sunrise and sunset times for all ten secret mystery sites. After figuring the photoperiod for your Mystery Class, you will be expected to graph your results on the large wall graph. Table of Contents

13. Tracking Photoperiod Click on the movie below to view a short video clip on tracking and graphing weekly photoperiod clues. Table of Contents

14. Calculating Photoperiod Sunrise and sunset occur because the Earth is spinning on its axis. During Mystery Class, you will receive sunrise and sunset times from around the world. A global view of Earth's 24-hour cycle can be hard to visualize. Below is a view of the 24-hour clock or military time. Table of Contents

15. Calculating Photoperiod Here are two ways in which you can calculate the photoperiod of a location from sunrise and sunset data. • If the sunrise is at 6:14 a.m. and the sunset is at 9: 36 p.m., you would divide the photoperiod into two parts: the amount of time before noon and the amount of time after noon. • You might work it through like this: from sunrise (6:14) to 6:30 is 16 minutes, from 6:30 to noon is 5 hours and 30 minutes, so from sunrise to noon is 5 hours and 46 minutes. • From noon to sunset is 9 hours and 36 minutes so the total would be 14 hours and 82 minutes. . Since you know that there are only 60 minutes in an hour, it becomes 15 hours and 22 minutes. 1st way: Table of Contents

16. Calculating Photoperiod 2nd way: Convert sunrise and sunset numbers to a 24-hour clock and subtract sunrise from sunset. convert to 24 hour clock sunset 9:36 sunrise 6:14 photoperiod sunset 21:36 sunrise -6:14 15:22 photoperiod 15 hours and 22 minutes Table of Contents

17. Calculating Photoperiod Now you try it! Sunrise 6:24 am Sunset 7:44 pm Step 1: Determine the sunset on the 24-hour clock. Sunset 19:44 pm Step 2: Subtract the sunrise from the sunset. • 19:44 • 6:24 Table of Contents

18. Calculating Photoperiod How did you do? 19:44 -6:24 13:20 13 hours/20 minutes Table of Contents

19. Latitude & Longitude Did you know that every location on earth has a global address that everyone can understand, no matter what language they might speak? Or how remote the place might be? A global address is given as two numbers called coordinates. The two numbers are a location's latitude number and its longitude number. Table of Contents

20. Latitude & Longitude Latitude Think about having imaginary horizontal "hula hoops" around the earth, with the biggest hoop around the equator, and then progressively smaller ones stacked above and below it to reach the North and South Poles Table of Contents

21. Latitude & Longitude Longitude Visualize hula hoops cut in half, vertically positioned with one end at the North Pole and the other at the South Pole. Table of Contents

22. Longitude Clues These images of Earth taken from space show the location of sun's light changes from one hour to the next as Earth rotates on its axis. The time is shown as "UT," or Universal Time; this is also known as "GMT," or Greenwich Mean Time. 03:55 GMT 04:55 GMT 05:55 GMT 06:55 GMT What do you notice? What does it "tell" you? How are sunrise and longitude related in the photos above? What season is it in the northern hemisphere? Explain how you know. Find out what scientists say. Table of Contents

23. Longitude Clues On the spring equinox, sunrise data given in Greenwich Mean Time reveals the approximate longitude of each secret site. With longitude uncovered, the search for secret sites is narrowing. Click on the movie clip below to view a short video on longitude. Table of Contents

24. Longitude Clues There are certain clues that can help you estimate Longitude when used in connection with the SPRING EQUINOX. These are called The Longitude Clues. Only on the Equinox (spring or fall) do these clues work. As your graph will show, on the Equinox everyone on earth has about the same amount of daylight. At all other times of year, either the Northern Hemisphere or Southern Hemisphere has more daylight due to the tilt of the Earth's axis. But on the Equinox, neither of the poles of the Earth is tilted toward or away from the sun. Because of this fact, using the Longitude Clues, you will be able to estimate approximate LONGITUDE by knowing the time of sunrise at the Mystery Class on the Equinox when you are given that sunrise time in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Table of Contents

25. Longitude Clues Table of Contents

26. Longitude Clues Mystery Class GMT Worksheet Estimating Approximate Longitude using GMT Sunrise Times on the Vernal Equinox (con’t.) Table of Contents

27. Longitude Clues Mystery Class GMT Worksheet Estimating Approximate Longitude using GMT Sunrise Times on the Vernal Equinox (con’t.) Table of Contents

28. Interdisciplinary Clues After the spring equinox, weekly informational clues about the history, geography, culture and other aspects of a location are provided, leading students progressively closer to unlocking the secret locations. Click on the picture below to watch a short video clip on using interdisciplinary clues. Table of Contents

29. Mystery Class Resources Following is a list of resources to aid you in your journey of finding your Mystery Class. Photoperiod(Journey North Mystery Class) Sunrise/Sunset Tables: Locations Worldwide Locations in U.S.Only Check out the following books in our class library. • LONGITUDE, by Dava Sobel • THE LONGITUDE PRIZE, by Joan Dash • ON THE SAME DAY IN MARCH, by Marilyn Singer Table of Contents You can also use atlases, maps, encyclopedias, and the internet.