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Sun/Earth Model
Objective: Use international shadow data to recreate the orientation of the sun and the Earth.
Materials: Data chart, golf tees (or toothpicks), “play dough”, large globe, bright light (i.e. overhead projector).
Procedure:
1. Find your location (or the location of one of the contributors to the project) on the globe. Place a small drop of “play dough” on the location. Press an upside down golf tee on the “play dough”. Determine what direction north, south, east, and west would be from this point.
2. Turn off all of the lights in the classroom and place the globe in front of the beam of light from the overhead or other light source. Practice orienting the globe so that a shadow is created by the golf tee that is pointing in the correct direction. Try tilting the globe to make the shadow shorter and longer.
3. Turn the lights on in the classroom. If your golf tee is located north of the equator choose another location south of the equator (preferable at the same or nearly same latitude). If your golf tee is located south of the equator choose another location north of the equator. Place another golf tee on the globe at that latitude but place it on the same longitude line as your initial golf tee. This will simulate the two shadows as if they occurred at a common noon time.
4. Turn the lights back off and place the globe in front of the beam of light once again. Turn and orient the globe until the shadows of the two golf tees are facing in the correct direction.
5. Now place a third golf tee in a place where there would be no shadow due to direct light. Using geography terms, explain where this location is found.
6. Draw a scientific diagram showing the earth, the three golf tees, their shadows, and any other geographic information or labels that would make your diagram easier to understand.