Sky Records for the Classroom Time Capsule

A Sky File for Next Year's Class

Beside the supply cabinet in a fifth-grade classroom stands a time-capsule shelf. Students are filling a box for next year's class. Instead of packing guesses about the sky, they prepare graphs that future students can test. The records below are invented but realistic examples for a school about 40 degrees north of the equator.

For the shadow study, the class works at a marked, open spot on school grounds. An adult secures a 100-centimeter rod upright on a level board. On a clear May day, students measure from the rod's base to its shadow tip at five times. They record the direction the shadow points. The rod, board, location, and measuring method stay unchanged. Students study the shadows without looking directly at the Sun.

The shadow clock is set so that noon marks the Sun's highest position that day. This makes the observations equally spaced before and after that moment. This clock may differ from the school's regular clock. A shadow points away from the light source, so its direction provides a clue about where the Sun appears in the sky.

For a second record, the class uses local sunrise and sunset times. These times use standard time throughout the year, without a daylight-saving change. They are rounded to whole hours; treat them as exact for this worksheet. Daylight runs from sunrise to sunset. The remaining hours in each 24-hour day are counted as darkness. Earth turns about once in 24 hours.

Adult volunteers also observe Leo and Cygnus, two recognizable star groups. They use the same open viewing spot at 9:00 p.m. standard time on six clear nights in each listed month. They record a group as visible when its recognizable pattern is above the horizon and can be seen. A monthly total counts sightings, but does not identify which nights they occurred. The class includes these procedures so future observers can make useful comparisons.