| Noon Shadow Project Faubion Middle School email: kcole@waymark.net Last revised: June 01, 1998 |
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Kenneth Cole
May 27, 1998
The Noon Shadow Project is based on the method that Eratosthenes, the Librarian of Alexandra, Egypt, used to calculate the circumference of the Earth over 2000 years ago. The Noon Project was begun in the late 1980's by educators wishing to demonstrate the possibilities for collaborative educational opportunities using electronic mail. The results of that initial effort are published at http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/Guidelines/LRWS.html.
One of the originators of the project, Kathleen Smith, continued to recreate the project yearly at the Vernal Equinox from her classroom at Central Academy in Champaign, Illinois. Ihor Charischak of The Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey has written some great lessons about the Noon Observation Project. He posted them on his site called the Noon Day Project.
I wrote the following lesson to share with other educators interested in taking part in the project in March of 1999. My emerging technology classes at Faubion Middle School collected the data through the Noon '98 Submission Form. As the information from schools came in we forwarded the information to a Noon Project mailing list so that all schools participating could utilize the data. After my students produced a spreadsheet from the data, we posted that page as the Noon '98 Results Table. If you are interested in participating in Noon '99, sign up to have your school added to the list.
Unit Overview: One of the best places to get the background on the experiment is Elanora Heights Primary School in Australia. The students at schools throughout the world measure the length of a noon shadow at the Vernal Equinox. The results are collected by submission via an Internet form. This year my classes at Faubion Middle School collected the data. The data is analyzed via a spreadsheet to find the Central Angle of the Earth from the submitting school to the equator. The distance from the school to the Equator is found by submitting the latitude and longitude of the school and the place where the longitude is the same as the school with the latitude of zero, which is the direct distance to the equator, to "How Far Is It?". At "How Far Is It?" the distance is calculated easily. A map can even be generated to demonstrate the perpendicular relationship between the coordinates of the school with the Equator. The results are then entered into a spreadsheet along with the formula for calculating the circumference of the Earth and the formula for calculating the error, since we do know the actual circumference of the Earth. Students visit sites of participating schools and link to those sites for future collaboration. In 1997 Faubion Middle School produced a Web Page celebrating the participating schools as well as a page on the results '97 spreadsheet. This year the project was modified from its use of trigonometric ratios to find the Sun Angle by measuring the length of the shadow of a meter stick to find the tangent ratio to simply measuring the angle of the Sun using a large protractor. The results '98 spreadsheet is written at the middle school mathematics level with instructions for creating the spreadsheet at the bottom of the page.
Unit Objectives: The student will measure the angle of the Sun with a protractor to find the circumference of the Earth based on the method Eratosthenes. The student will use algebraic formula in a spreadsheet to produce these calculations. The student will identify participating schools by name, state (province, landscape, etc.), city, latitude, and longitude, as well as locate the school on a world map and/or atlas. The student will write email to at least one participating school thanking the school for participating and seeking additional contact for future collaborative projects. The student will apply algebra, geometry, history and geography in a real situation. The student will locate information on the World Wide Web to apply in a real situation.
Lesson Components and Time Lines:
Begin the unit with the Noon Project Scavenger Hunt lesson at the first of March, approximately three weeks before the Vernal Equinox.
At the end of the first week of March, the students work in teams to design a gnome with a meter stick and to locate a level place outdoors to complete the project. The students contact previous year's participants as well as other schools who have shown interest in the project.
The week before the project do the math. Demonstrate the geometry involved with a lesson on angles formed when parallel lines are cut by a transversal. Next show the relationship between the length of an arc, its central angle, and the circumference of the circle. Use the book, The Librarian Who Measured The Earth by Kathryn Lasky to develop the lessons in perspective. The February 1998 National Geographic Magazine's photo of a well similar to that used by Eratosthenes could help demonstrate the Well of Syene. Make a practice run, find the actual noon-time for your school, and identify the latitude and longitude of the school. This could be done technologically by use of a GPS, Global Positioning Satellite device.
The week of the project, pray for a Sunny Noon during the week. Allow yourself alternative dates and plan them around the actual noontime. The window of opportunity for this project is two days before or after the Equinox. If your site is rained out, your students can still participate by collecting data from the other sites. Submit your data by the Noon Form page.
After the project, make a wall size spreadsheet to present the incoming data. If your classroom is equipted with a LCD projector or multiple computers, have the students develop the spreadsheet formula as described in the Noon '98 Table page. Most of the data is submitted within 3 weeks. Allow for late entries from late submitters, some of these are interesting.
Final Assessment: The assessment for this project is best done in a reflection of the project. Have the students write a short essay analyzing the process of the project, as well as describe what they learned while doing the project. Ask the students to make suggestions on how to improve the project next year and to give ideas for future projects.
| Noon Shadow Project Faubion Middle School email: kcole@waymark.net Last revised: June 01, 1998 |
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