Seasons

The Reasons for the Seasons Student Page
(Quarterly observations on the first days of fall, winter, and spring.)



===__Summary__: Around the first day of each season (fall, winter, spring), fifth graders measure the length of the flagpole and building shadow. Sunrise and sunset data is also collected. A culminating "Earth and Sun" model activity will take place in March to connect our data together.===

__Think__: Students know that...

 * In the summer the days are longer, and in the winter the days are shorter (daylight).
 * It is colder in winter than in summer because of the Earth's tilt.
 * The higher the sun is in the sky, the shorter the shadows are on the ground.
 * Shadows move and change shape throughout the day.

__Control Variables__

 * ===Check the flagpole near the first day of each season.===
 * ===Check the flagpole near the same time each season.===
 * ===Measure in metric each time.===

__Treatment Variable__

 * ===The seasons will change during this experiment.===

__ Fall Data __
10:00 am || flagpole = 22__m__ || 7:25 a.m. DST || 7:37 p.m.  DST || 12 hours and 12 minutes of daylight on the first day of fall. The building shadow was along the outer edge of the sidewalk. || 3:15 pm || flagpole = 14m || same || same || The building shadow was two feet beyond the outer edge of the sidewalk. || DST = Daylight Savings Time
 * ** Homeroom/Time **
 * September 20th ** || ** Shadow Length ** || ** Sunrise ** || ** Sunset ** || ** Reflections ** ||
 * Overbeek/Maher
 * Farmer/Vincent

__September Hypothesis__: In December, the flagpole shadow will be...

 * === LONGER--06+22+10+03 ===
 * === THE SAME LENGTH--01+00+00+00 ===
 * === SHORTER--17+25+16+24 ===

__Winter Data__
(insert table here)

__December Hypothesis__: In March, the flagpole shadow will be...

 * ===longer--__===
 * ===the same length--__===
 * ===shorter--__===

Spring Data
(insert table here)

__March Hypothesis__: In JUNE, the flagpole shadow will be...

 * === longer-- ===
 * === the same length-- ===
 * === shorter-- ===

__Conclusion/Discussion__
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