Burton 5th Graders "Travel" the Seasons
By Amy Vinecourt
December 03, 2007
On our first blustery school day of December, the 5th grade science students at Burton Elementary had the opportunity to experience all the seasons at one time! Mr. Claire Zurbuch visited our classroom and brought a piece of equipment he designed to actually show the students what happens to the earth and sunlight at each season. The equipment has a globe attached to a long tube that circles “the sun” which is represented by a flashlight. The Earth is tilted and therefore the “sun” hits at different locations at different times. The students were able to see where the sun’s light hits during the different seasons.
In a discussion with the students, he explained about the summer and winter solstices as well as the spring and fall equinoxes. The students now understand why spring and fall are called ‘equinox’ since we have close to the same amount of night and day hours at these times. Next, Mr. Zurbuch lined up a meter stick to point to exact locations on the globe as the “sun” shone on them. We watched as the “sun” hit the equator at O’, the tropic of Cancer at about 23’N, and the tropic of Capricorn at about 23’S all in a single rotation around the sun. This really helped us to see the different angles of the sun’s rays!
According to Mr. Zurbuch, there are Harvard students who don’t really know why we have seasons. Luckily for us, he showed us exactly how! Look out, Harvard, here we come! Our thanks goes to Mr. Zurbuch who donated his time to come share with our 5th graders! He was FABULOUS, and the students really enjoyed him
In a discussion with the students, he explained about the summer and winter solstices as well as the spring and fall equinoxes. The students now understand why spring and fall are called ‘equinox’ since we have close to the same amount of night and day hours at these times. Next, Mr. Zurbuch lined up a meter stick to point to exact locations on the globe as the “sun” shone on them. We watched as the “sun” hit the equator at O’, the tropic of Cancer at about 23’N, and the tropic of Capricorn at about 23’S all in a single rotation around the sun. This really helped us to see the different angles of the sun’s rays!
According to Mr. Zurbuch, there are Harvard students who don’t really know why we have seasons. Luckily for us, he showed us exactly how! Look out, Harvard, here we come! Our thanks goes to Mr. Zurbuch who donated his time to come share with our 5th graders! He was FABULOUS, and the students really enjoyed him!
