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One of the major "Reasons for the Seasons" is the change of the
height of the Sun at noon during the course of the year. Most people
think that the Sun is always directly overhead, at the zenith,
at noon. This isn't true. For most locations the Sun is never at
the zenith. As we follow the Sun during the school year, we will see
where the Sun is located in the sky from different latitudes.
The process is simple:
- Go out at local noon on roughly the 21st of each month. If you
don't know when local noon occurs for your location, go to the
NOAA Sunrise/Sunset Calculator page
to find the answer.
- Place a meter stick on the
ground, and aim it toward the Sun. CAUTION: AVOID LOOKING AT THE
SUN FOR ANY PROLONGED PERIOD OF TIME. A QUICK GLANCE IS ENOUGH TO DO
THIS ACTIVITY. Move the meter stick back and forth until the
stick shows no shadow on the ground.
- If possible, take a digital
image of the person holding the meter stick.
- Measure the angle that the
stick makes with the ground using a protractor or image processing
software such as NIH
Image for the MacIntosh, or
Imagej
for the Pc.
- Click
here to see a variety of methods for making the measurement.
-
Send us your image
along with your angle measurement, time of sunrise and sunset,
temperature at local noon, and any other "tidbits" of information
you would want added to your page.
If you wish to join, simply
e-mail me with the name of your school and its latitude, and I'll add you to
our list.
| Follow the Sun as it makes its yearly journey from autumnal
equinox to summer solstice as the schools listed below measure the angle
of the Sun. 2008 - 2009
PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS
CLICK ON THE DOT TO VISIT THEIR
WEBSITES
|
|
SCHOOL |
LATITUDE |
LOCATION |
SEPT. ANGLE
(Date)
PDF of September Data* |
SEPT. 22ND
LENGTH OF DAYLIGHT |
OCT. ANGLE |
LENGTH OF DAYLIGHT FOR DATE
OF READING |
NOV. ANGLE |
DEC. ANGLE |
JAN. ANGLE |
FEB. ANGLE |
MARCH ANGLE |
|
Chief Zzeh Gittlit School |
67.34 N |
Old Crow, Yukon (Canada) |
X |
12h 26m |
10(23) |
8h 24m |
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|
|
|
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Saranac Lake Middle
School |
44.39 N |
Saranac Lake, NY |
44 (22) |
12h09m |
36.5 (23) |
10h 38m |
|
|
|
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|
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Paisley School #11 |
42.74N |
Paisley, OR |
X |
12h 09m |
22.5(23) |
10h 39m |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Kenosha Unified District #1 |
42.59 N |
Kenosha, WI |
X |
12h 09m |
|
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|
|
|
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Homer Community High
School |
42.32 N |
Homer, NE |
X |
12h 09m |
|
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|
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Hornell High School |
42.32 N |
Hornell, NY |
45.5 - 48 (22) |
12h 09m |
|
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Gates Intermediate School |
42.19 N |
Scituate, MA |
46(23) |
12h 09m |
38(24) |
10h 40m |
|
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|
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Belchertown High School |
42.28 N |
Belchertown, MA |
46◦
20’ (23) |
12h 09m |
35o 36'(22) |
10h 45m |
|
|
|
|
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Fairfield Woods
Middle School |
41.19 N |
Fairfield, CT |
51(22) |
12h 09m |
37(22) |
10h 45m |
|
|
|
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Montgomery School |
40.09 N |
Chester Springs, PA |
50(22) |
12h 08m |
41(23) |
10h 49m |
|
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Chapman School |
40.00 N |
Columbus, OH |
49.55 (22) |
12h 08m |
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Warren County Middle School |
38.93N |
Fort Royal, VA |
54(22) |
12h 08m |
39(21) |
11h 00m |
|
|
|
|
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|
Frost Middle School |
38.84 N |
Fairfax, VA |
54.3 (23) |
12h 08m |
40.1 (24) |
10h 53m |
|
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Sherwood Cass Middle School |
38.48 N |
Creighton, MO |
53(22) |
12h 08m |
40(20) |
10h 59m |
|
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|
|
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Holy Redeemer Catholic School |
38.6 N |
Webster Groves, MO |
55(22) |
12h 08m |
40(20) |
11h 00m |
|
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Carolina Friends Middle
School |
35.99 N |
Durham, NC |
52 (22) |
12h 08m |
47(21) |
11h 05m |
|
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|
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|
Jackson Middle School |
28.51 N |
Orlando, FL |
69 (22) |
12h 07m |
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* Some schools reported that the data wasn't visible in the table. This is
a Mac problem. My IT person said that if you use a different browser it might
clear up the problem. I'll post the data as a pdf until I hear differently.
|
