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MaryM
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Hi fellow participants! Today is the first day of Journey North. The first day to check your local sunrise and sunset times and make the calculation of the photoperiod (Length of daylight) for this day where you live. The members we have participating are listed here:
Erica
Caroline
Carole
Jen
Suzanne
Angie
Christine
Marcia
Betty
Mary
I was planning to wait until Friday to make assignments of the mystery locations in case we want to assign based on knowing which locations will be polar regions (not so exciting for some families/kids to track).
From what I gathered there are mostly families participating who have done this in the past so are familiar. But I know we have a couple members who have not done it and I want to make sure it is clear what to do. I'll make a separate post below of the message I just sent to my local group who are also doing this with me. It outlines what to do to get started.
Update: Feb. 7 - here is the data from all locations as complied from posts below. So you can graph them.
Mystery Class #1: 13 hours 39 minutes
Mystery Class #2: 11 hours 30 minutes
Mystery Class #3: 24 hours 0 minutes
Mystery Class #4: 11 hours 8 minutes
Mystery Class #5: 13 hours 18 minutes
Mystery Class #6: 10 hours 39 minutes
Mystery Class #7: 13 hours 49 minutes
Mystery Class #8: 9 hours 55 minutes
Mystery Class #9: 12 hours 20 minutes
Mystery Class #10: 10 hours 22 minutes
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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MaryM
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Hi fellow Journey North participants,
I know some of you already know what to do from past experience or you have poked around the website and figured out the initial steps yourself. But just so everyone is ready and familiar these are your instructions to get started.
This page - How to Participate is the basic page that outlines what you need to do and has the links to the materials you download and print. Remember: you DO NOT need to register - I have already registered our group for us. So ignore that step.
It is a good idea to get a pocket folder or file folder and use that to keep all your JN materials together in one place. You also need a set of colored pencils (11 colors if you are going to graph all locations- the city where you live and the 10 mystery locations). Each family needs to print out 2 copies of this data sheet from the Journey North site. One will be for your assigned mystery location (#1, #2,or #3, etc.) and one will be where you track the data for your physical local location where you live. Also print out the graph. There are two pages. Once you print out those two pages you need to tape them together so they form one long graph. A completed graph looks like this (bottom of page is a completed graph). You can also choose to print out the weekly Journal Pages but those are optional and not necessary to complete the data.
The first calculation you need to do is for the photo period (the amount of daylight) for January 31 in your local city/town and then graph that number on your graph in the color that you are assigning to your local data. You can find the times for your local sunrise and sunset in the newspaper or online at sites like this one suggested by JN. Additional online sites you could use:
NOAA - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Weather Service
GAISMA
Sunrise/Sunset Calendar
These sites could also be useful in later weeks when trying to narrow down mystery locations.
For the benefit of those who have not done this yet I will go through an example of how to calculate this. If you have already done this feel free to ignore me - ha ha...
I looked up the sunrise and sunset times for Denver, Colorado for Monday, January 31.
Sunrise - 7:09 AM
Sunset - 5:18 PM
One method to calculate the photo period is to physically count the hours/minutes from 7:09 AM to 5:18 PM.
7:09 to 8:09 to 9:09 to 10:09 to 11:09 to 12:09 to 1:09 to 2:09 to 3:09 to 4:09 to 5:09 is 10 hours.
5:09 to 5:18 is 9 minutes.
So the time from sunrise to sunset here (the photo period for this day) is 10 hours and 9 minutes. That is the number our family will write in the data sheet and plot on our graph. Yours will be different since you all live in different places - north or south of us.
Another method is subtraction after converting times to 24 hour clock.
7:09 AM on the 24 hour clock is 07:09
5:18 PM on the 24 hour clock is 17:18
Take the larger number - the later time - and subtract the earlier time from it.
17:18
-7:09
10:09 - which is the same photo period we got with the counting method.
Do remember that if you have to "borrow" you need to borrow 60 minutes from the hour. For example:
18:34
-6:36
would become
17:94
-6:36
11:58
You can all do the local calculation now if you haven't already done so. On Friday the JN site will post the first week Mystery Location sunrise and sunset times. These are for the date of Monday, Jan. 31 even though they are posted on Friday. When they post, write down the sunrise and sunset times for the mystery location # you will be assigned and then calculate the photo period. Please post that calculation to the group within a couple days so we can all see the numbers and graph the times of all 10 mystery locations. I'll start a new thread each week like Lissa did before.
Some points I want to mention so no one is confused. WE/YOU ARE NOT A MYSTERY LOCATION. We calculate and graph our local data only to serve as a comparison – a control. From that info we can determine things like: is the mystery location we are assigned north or south or us, approximately how far, in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere, etc. It could be that your city/town turns out to be one of the mystery locations but very unlikely. There is usually one location among the 10 mystery locations that is in the United States (sometimes two) and the rest are located around the world in various places. That is what we are trying to figure out - where they are. Having each family track only one location makes it more manageable and does not add a large time commitment for you, but we share our data so that all participants can graph the data from each location and follow along with the progress of determining the locations. Some famiies may choose to do the calculations for all locations if you want to, but you are only responsible here for one.
Journey North will be sending me additional information, reminders, and also suggestions for learning activities which I will post to the group when I get them. Some of you who are registered as teachers from doing it in the past, will get htose already.
Remember:
On Mondays you will collect your own LOCAL sunrise/sunset data. Calculate photoperiod.
On Fridays you will receive sunrise/sunset from the 10 Mystery Class sites. Calculate photoperiod.
If you have questions, please ask.
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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stellamaris
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Thanks, Mary! Graphed our first set of data...also reading in Signs and Seasons a nice explanation of the stages of sunrise and sunset.
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In Christ,
Caroline
Wife to  dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
Flowing Streams
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MaryM
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| Posted: Jan 31 2011 at 1:51pm | IP Logged
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stellamaris wrote:
| ...also reading in Signs and Seasons a nice explanation of the stages of sunrise and sunset. |
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Oh, please share some highlights we can pass on to the kids.
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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stellamaris
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The section we read describes how the rotation of the earth makes the sun appear to rise in the eastern sky, cross the meridien at noon and then set in the west.
Important concepts/vocabulary:
terminator (not AARRNOLD!)- the imaginary line that divides day from night. One side of the earth faces the sun and is in daylight and the opposite side is in the shadow of the earth--nighttime. On the nighttime side of the terminator is an area called "twilight" (as in, "you are entering the twilight zone...", wow, it's been a sort of long day here  ). Twilight occurs just before sunrise and just after sunset. I think the time referred to at the US Naval Observatory website you linked above as "begin civil twilight" is the period of time in the morning before actual sunrise when the sky is beginning to lighten; "end civil twilight" would refer to the time after sunset when your location finally leaves the twilight zone.
meridian--an imaginary line that defines the middle of the sky. When the sun reaches the meridian (called it's zenith or highest point of ascent), it is high noon. This is local actual time..not necessary your clock time. At this time of day, shadows are shortest. The US Naval site denotes this as "sun transit", so for my location the sun transit was actually after noon was shown on my clock. So, local(sun) time is NOT necessarily equal to standard clock time.
sun activity: we are in the process of creating a sun compass. We will also be able to use this as a sundial. Push a fairly tall stick into the ground in a clear area (it has to be sunlit from 10 to 2). Every 20 minutes from 10 to 2, mark the length of the shadow the stick casts with rocks or sticks stuck in the ground. The shortest length is due north. You should repeat two or three times to make sure you actually found the shortest shadow. We're going to construct a sundial, too.
Here's a link to the website from which I ordered Signs and Seasons. This book is really more appropriate for middle/high schoolers, but it has a lot of interesting activities in the back and many good black and white illustrations. I'm picking and choosing sections to read to my 9,9, and 8 year-olds.
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In Christ,
Caroline
Wife to dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
Flowing Streams
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SuzanneG
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Posting Mary's booklist from the other thread:
Seasons
Reasons for the Seasons
Greenwich Guide to the Seasons
Sunshine Makes the Seasons
On The Same Day in March (world weather differences)
In Like a Lion, Out Like a Lamb
Time
The Time Book: A Brief History from Lunar Calendars to Atomic Clocks
When it's Six O'Clock in San Francisco
Time Zones
Greenwich Guide to Day and Night
Activity Resources (these books have explanations of latitude and longitude with hands-on activities including making astrolabes, cross staff, etc.)
Geography Wizardry for Kids
Geography for Every Kid
Geography Crafts for Kids
Mighty Maps! Facts, Fun and Trivia to Develop Map Skills - includes latitude & longitude, using grids, time/time zones exercises
Longitude/The Longitude Prize (fascinating story!)
The Man Who Made Time Travel (picture book)
Sea Clocks - The Story of Longitude (picture book)
The Longitude Prize (chapter book)
For older-
Longitude: The True Story of the Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time or the illustrated version
NOVA's Lost at Sea - the Search for Longitude video
Longitude - an A&E homevideo
Maps and Mapping - history
Where am I? The Story of Maps and Navigation
Mapping the Unknown
Mapping a Changing World
Rookie Read-About_Geography Latitude and Longitude is a nice intro for the very young set (age 5-7). Others in the series that might be helpful as well are Types of Maps, Map Scales, and Map Keys.
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Suzanne in ID
Wife to Pete
Mom of 7 (Girls - 14, 12, 11, 9, 7 and Boys - 4, 1)
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stellamaris
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Here is a link to a museum PDF document that contains some activities demonstrating day-night motion and the terminator. Scroll down to page 15.
Thank you, Suzanne. We just read Sea Clocks: The Story of Longitude last week and watched the NOVA video. It was so interesting!
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In Christ,
Caroline
Wife to dh 30+ yrs,ds's 83,85,89,dd's 91,95,ds's 01,01,02,grammy to 4
Flowing Streams
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MaryM
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Adding a new one on time zones/longitude:TIme Zones (David Adler)
It's very good.
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Mary M. in Denver
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Mackfam
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For further reading:
BOOKS:
The Day We Saw the Sun Come Up by Alice E. Goudey - PRESCHOOL/ELEMENTARY --- charming picture book written in a lovely way that conveys facts about the sun and all the things the sun affects. (OOP so check your library)
On the Line: The Story of the Greenwich Meridian by Graham Dolan --- JR HIGH/HIGH SCHOOL --- short, interesting book on the Greenwich Meridian line.
Plotting the Globe: Stories of Meridians, Parallels, and the International Date Line by Avraham Ariel and Nora Ariel Berger.
WEBSITE:
UK National Maritime Museum has a brief history of John Harrison and some good images of the prototypes to the marine chronometer with an interesting animated image explaining how Harrison's chronometer was able to work.
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Jen Mackintosh
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Wildflowers and Marbles
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cvbmom
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Thanks so much for the instructions and extra reading suggestions. They really help make things clear. We are excited to be a part of this. Thanks so much 
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Wife to dh - 18 years!
Mom to dd (16), ds (15), dd, (12), dd (11), ds (9), dd (8), dd (7), ds (5), dd (3), ds (2), and ds (1)
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MaryM
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| Posted: Feb 04 2011 at 6:29pm | IP Logged
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Hi Everyone!
Sorry for my absence. I should have posted this earlier today. We were gone all day so I forgot we needed to do it. Caroline reminded me - thanks, Caroline! 
Here is the first set of sunrise and sunset times for the 10 mystery locations.
So we have exactly 10 members who indicated they would like to participate. So I am just going to go down the list and assign them - skipping #3 - which you will notice has a 24 hours of daylight. So right off the bat we know that location is the South Pole/Antarctica somewhere. It is not very exciting for the kids to track the polar region as the only one they are calculating so we won't "assign" that one. *Our family will take it though here on 4 Real because we are already tracking one non-polar location for our local group.
So these are the Mystery Locations you are assigned:
#1 Erica
#2 Caroline
#4 Carole
#5 Jen
#6 Suzanne
#7 Angie
#8 Christine
#9 Marcia
#10 Betty
#3 Mary *
So calculate the photoperiod for your mystery location and post that time here by Monday so that everyone can graph each photoperiod.
I'll start:
As stated about Mystery Location #3 has a photoperiod of 24 hours.
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Mary M. in Denver
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Mackfam
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MaryM wrote:
| So calculate the photoperiod for your mystery location and post that time here by Monday so that everyone can graph each photoperiod. |
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Just in case you're new or unsure where to find the data clues for the mystery sites, you can link directly to this page for the numbered clues. Find the number you were assigned by Mary and calculate the photoperiod. 
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Jen Mackintosh
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Mackfam
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MaryM wrote:
Here is the first set of sunrise and sunset times for the 10 mystery locations. |
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Mary beat me to it. I missed seeing that in your first post, Mary! Sorry to duplicate!
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Jen Mackintosh
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MaryM
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Mackfam wrote:
MaryM wrote:
Here is the first set of sunrise and sunset times for the 10 mystery locations. |
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Mary beat me to it. I missed seeing that in your first post, Mary! Sorry to duplicate! |
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Well, that's because it wasn't there at first posting. I edited and added it when I realized it should be there.
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Mary M. in Denver
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Mackfam
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MaryM wrote:
Mackfam wrote:
MaryM wrote:
Here is the first set of sunrise and sunset times for the 10 mystery locations. |
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Mary beat me to it. I missed seeing that in your first post, Mary! Sorry to duplicate! |
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Well, that's because it wasn't there at first posting. I edited and added it when I realized it should be there. |
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oh...ugh...well, sorry for blowing your cover then!
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Jen Mackintosh
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Wildflowers and Marbles
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Mackfam
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Mystery location #5 has a photoperiod of 13 hours, 18 min.
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Jen Mackintosh
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Wildflowers and Marbles
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Marcia
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#9 is 12 hours 20 minutes
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Marcia
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Homeschooling 10th, 7th, 5th, 2nd, PreK and a toddler in tow.
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cvbmom
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We think location #8's photo period is 9 hours 55 minutes.
This IS our first time doing this, so please do double check ours 
God bless,
Christine
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MaryM
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cvbmom wrote:
We think location #8's photo period is 9 hours 55 minutes.
This IS our first time doing this, so please do double check ours |
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- looks good...
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Mary M. in Denver
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Carole N.
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For site #4 the photo period is 11 hours and 8 minutes.
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Carole ... in Wales
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4Real Forums : Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
Topic: Journey North - start today, 2/4 update
