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Introduction: (Back
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The Sun Shadows Project is an
international data collection project. Mr. Smith's
class in Reading, PA USA will act as the data
collection and data communication center. The aim is
to gather noon-time sun shadow data from individuals
and other classrooms who live at different latitudes
around the world. Data will be gathered at the
equinoxes in September and March as well as the
Solstice in December. Using this data students will
be able to work on an assortment of academic
objectives:
- Writing for the purposes
of communicating cultural and environmental
differences and similarities between students
and other individuals from all over the
world.
- Using measurment tools to
measure and communicate in stardardized ways.
- Discovering with real data
the reason for changes in seasons and other
related natural phenomena including major
storm development.
- Making measurement
conversions in order to be able to compare
and contrast data.
Participation:
(Back to Top)
Success of this project will
depend on the number and geographic variety of data
collectors. Stay tuned to see this year's
participants.
If you are are an individual or
classroom who would like to participate in the data
collection please send an Email message to Mr. Smith:
smithg@readingsd.org
Please feel free to send this
page to other classrooms and individuals who may be
interested.
Materials
Needed for Data Collection:
(Back to Top)
- Meter stick or other straight
device 1m long (about 39 inches long) to create
shadow.
- Glass jar filled with sand to
hold the stick vertically. (Any other creative
device that holds the stick vertically will do
just fine, though. You could even use rocks or
books piled around the base to keep the stick
vertical)
- Tape measure or other suitable
measuring tool to determine lenghth of the
shadow.
- Compass to measure direction
of shadow.
- Level (or a "good
eye") to insure stick is vertical.
- Thermometer or local news
media to measure and record temperature.
- Optional: Digital camera to
share your measuring event with the rest of us.
Data
Collection Instructions: (Back
to Top)
- Obviously, sun shadows can
only be collected on either clear or slightly
cloudy days. Therefore, data collection dates
will be any day within a week of the
equinoxes and the December Solstice.
- Acceptable dates for the
three collections include:
September Equinox:
September 18th to September 25th, 2002
December
Solstice: December 15th to December
21st, 2002
March Equinox:
March 17th to March 25th, 2003
- Since not all areas of the
Earth participate in Daylight Savings Time,
the time when the sun is at its
"highest" and shadows the shortest
will not be the same for everyone. For a true
"noon" you will have to find the
midpoint between sunrise and sunset on the
day of your measurement. For instance, on a
practice measurement day in September, the
time of the shortest shadow for us in
Reading, PA was closer to 1 PM due to
Daylight Savings Time.
- Necessary measurements to
include:
Name of Class, School, and or
Individual Data Collector:
Description of weather on week
of Measurement:
Date of Measurement:
Location:
Length of shadow: (prefer
cm but my class can do any conversions necessary)
Direction of shadow: (away
from the sun using a compass) using
cardinal/intermediate directions or degrees, we
will standardize all the data in my class. If a
compass is not available an educated guess is
acceptable.
Temperature:(prefer
degrees Celcius, but my class can do any
conversions necessary)
Optional
data to include:
Angle of Sun Shadow:
Sunrise time:
Sunset time:
Hours of sunlight:
Latitude:
Longitude:
Digital pitcure of data collection:
Example of Set-Up: (Back to Top)
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