We set up the metre stick to aim at the sun, and then moved it around until there was no shadow.....but even at 0º there was a shadow!

(about an inch long)

We couldn't get a reading, so just for curiosity I did a different experiment and measured the length of the shadow extending from the metre stick at 90º. The shadow measured 740 cm! This was at our local noon (13:03).

We divided 100 by 740 and got 0.1351 which was the tangent of the sun angle. That angle became 7 degrees!

 I was amazed at the shadow length, and thought you might enjoy hearing about it, or sharing it with your classes.

Hoping for clear skies so that we can contribute,

I happened to have my video camera with me at school today, and grabbed three different views of some magnificent sun dogs! I was in awe. They are beautiful!

I didn't have a wide enough lens to get a good still photo, but I panned back and forth with the video camera to give a sense of them.

I have posted the video on my personal website. I included the information from our afternoon Sun Angle Lab reading as well.

Because our angle was once again so low, we gave a "best estimate"

with the least amount of shadow: 3º. We also measured the length of the shadow from a metre stick standing perpendicular to the ground: it was an amazing 17.3 m long!

Clear skies are great, but sun dogs...WOW!

I can share an interesting contrast: my reaction vs. my students' reactions. They see them all the time. It was definitely ho hum for them. I was jumping around saying things like, "Do you see that? Do you SEE that?"

How can one predict how one will react when confronted with three suns in the sky?

>My  students are all asking  what's it like up there at noon? Is the sky REALLY dark, or is there some hint of light? What do you do for  recess?

C. Lindgren

I had the same curiosity. Reality isn't as exciting as I thought it would be. Although we have no sun, we still have "twilight". Until 10:30 or so in the morning it is still quite dark, and then it begins to get lighter. The twilight begins to fade around 2:00 p.m. or so.

Recess falls in the "not yet twilight" stage, and the kids are outside running around as usual (in the dark). The far horizon will be a pinkish colour at this time.

As long as you step outside during the noon break you can get your daily exposure to the light of "twilight".

On a side note, on Tuesday this week I saw the Northern Lights on my walk to school and again on my walk home from school. That was pretty special. Yesterday morning there were ice crystals in the air and it was doing interesting things to the lights in the village. Above the houses there were vertical bands of light "floating" in the darkness.

Our school has some bright outdoor lights, and the floating bands above these lights were quite impressive. Again, it was pretty magical.

Thanks for the excellent question from your students. I will try to post something in early January that gives an indication of the amount of light that we still get even without the sun. I will get my students to describe recess in the dark.

S. Climie

-perpendicular metre stick shadow was 20.12 m

I have two pictures to include, with our results.

They've been very cold, but also very clear.

Our February sun angle reading is 10º. This sounds low, but to us it seems very high in the sky. My students are excited to see how high the angle will get. I have to admit that I am, too.

This was taken at 1:34 p.m. (local noon).

The temperature was -40º C (and F). My bare hands were soooo cold in just minutes. Most of the class participated, but some stayed inside (understandably).

We also did the sun shadow for the perpendicular metre stick, and it was MUCH shorter than last time. This time it was a mere 4.70 m.

Enjoy your break! We're off next week.

Our best estimate is 20º.

We noticed that our vertical metre stick shadow is getting MUCH shorter now, as well. The shadow only measured 2.40 m.