Winter to most Canadians means snow and cold temperatures. It also means very short days and lots of darkness… If you live in Canada, or somewhere in the North or in the South, I do not need to convince you that day length plays an important role in your life (what I mean by it is the amount of sunshine). Today, on January 4th, 2011, the length of day in Vancouver, Canada is only 8 hours and 21 minutes, while 6 months later (in July), the day length is going to be 16 hours and 06 minutes. The longest and shortest days of the year are summer and winter solstice respectively.  The most interesting (to me) thing about the length of the day is their rate of change. Is the length of day changes at the same rate all over the year or does it change at different rates? How will the graph of the day length versus time look like? To answer this questions, visit a very interesting web site:

http://www.analemma.com/Pages/framesPage.html There you will find the SunGraph calculator that will help you answer these questions… The software is Free and you can discuss what you found with your students! This is a very interesting application of technology – using computer simulations to answer everyday life questions quantitatively.

You can also look for day length calculators and other interesting web site online!

HINT: The rate of change of day light is NOT constant, but to find out how it changes, use the simulation I mentioned above.

Posted: 01|4|11 at 3:40 pm. Filed under: General, General teaching, Interactivity in the classroom, Uncategorized.
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