[YAPA] Fwd: SSA - Invitation to Participate in School Equinox Activity

[Sharon Shanks]

Sounds fun ....

Sharon

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Solar System Ambassador <ambassad at mail.jpl.nasa.gov>
Date: Sep 11, 2006 5:36 PM
Subject: SSA - Invitation to Participate in School Equinox Activity
To:

>From SSEP Tim McCollum, FYI...

*************

Dear Teachers,

You and your students are invited to participate in an annual daytime
astronomy project titled - Noon Shadows on the Equinox. The fall
(autumnal) equinox will occur this year at 12:03 A.M. EDT (04:03
Universal Time) on Saturday, September 23rd. At that moment, the Sun
will cross the celestial equator, and it will mark the official start
of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and spring in the Southern
Hemisphere. The activity should be conducted during the school day on
Friday, September 22nd. During this outdoor lesson, your students
will be measuring the length of a shadow cast by an upright meter
stick. The time of the shortest shadow length measured all day will
mark solar noon - the Sun's exact midday position in the sky. By
calculating the angle between the tip of the shadow and the vertical
meter stick at solar noon, your students should be able to determine
their own degrees of north or south latitude (but let them discover
this neat bit of astronomical geometry). All data submitted will be
posted for viewing. Schools from as far away as Puerto Rico and
Hawaii have participated in the past.

Instructions for the activity and for submitting your school
measurements can be found at the link below.

http://ux1.eiu.edu/~tmccollum/equinox_06/noon_shadows_06.html

Please join us as we welcome the changing seasons with this engaging
outdoor science activity.

Tim McCollum, Project Director
Noon Shadows on the Equinox
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