Rukmini Devi Public
School, India
(Global
Sun Temperature Collaborative Project)
Final Report
This is the fourth time we have participated in this
project. This project gave us an opportunity to learn the concept in an
interesting way.
The Earth's daily weather
and climate is controlled by the balance between the amount of sunlight
received by the Earth (both its surface and atmosphere) and the amount of
energy emitted by the Earth into space.
The Earth moves in two ways:
1. It rotates on its axis, resulting
in turning toward and away from the Sun, causing the cycle of night and day
every 24 hours.
2. It revolves around the Sun in the shape of an ellipse (not a perfect circle). Strangely enough, during summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the Earth is actually at the portion of the ellipse that is farther away from the Sun than the portion of the ellipse it travels around during the winter months.
2. It revolves around the Sun in the shape of an ellipse (not a perfect circle). Strangely enough, during summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the Earth is actually at the portion of the ellipse that is farther away from the Sun than the portion of the ellipse it travels around during the winter months.
The Earth is tilted on its axis so that the
North Pole doesn't really face directly upward. Instead, it points toward
Polaris, or the North Star. No matter how the Earth is rotating or revolving,
that tilt remains approximately the same all year long. This tilt, combined
with the revolution of the Earth around the Sun, is what causes different areas
of the Earth to receive more or less direct sunlight throughout the year. The
time of year when the Northern Hemisphere receives the most direct sunlight is
summer in the Northern Hemisphere. The time of year when the Northern
Hemisphere receives the least direct sunlight is winter in the Northern
Hemisphere. In addition to the light being more spread out during winter
months, the Earth's angle also causes the Sun's light to travel through more
atmosphere. Atmosphere blocks some of the light and disperses the remaining
light further.
We noted the observations in our school premises. The
observations were noted systematically and step-by-step record was maintained.
We were not familiar with some of the interesting facts about latitude and
longitude. It was really interesting to know about them and conduction of
survey was a real fun.
Our
hypothesis was that “Countries near to the equator get more sunlight and have
high temperature”. After analyzing the data and by plotting graphs we came to
the conclusion that our hypothesis is correct.
The
following 16 schools are taken for comparison
|
Date
Submitted
|
School
|
Class
|
City
|
State/
Province |
Country
|
Latitude
(N or S)
|
Longitude (W
or E)
|
Average
Minutes of Sunlight
|
Average
Temperature (OC)
|
|
10/26/2015
|
West Fork Middle School
|
8A
|
Rockwell
|
Iowa
|
USA
|
42.98
|
-93.19
|
637
|
14
|
|
10/27/2015
|
Glen Rock Middle School
|
602
|
Brooklyn
|
NY
|
USA
|
40.6
|
-73.9
|
655
|
19
|
|
10/30/2015
|
Foothills Middle School
|
Period 2 Science
|
Wenatchee
|
WA
|
USA
|
47.42
|
-120.31
|
612
|
13
|
|
10/30/2015
|
Foothills Middle School
|
Period 3 Science
|
Wenatchee
|
WA
|
USA
|
47.42
|
-120.31
|
612
|
13
|
|
11/2/2015
|
Foothills Middle School
|
FMScience@104 5th
|
Wenatchee
|
Washington
|
USA
|
47.44
|
-120.34
|
611
|
16
|
|
11/2/2015
|
Foothills Middle School
|
FMScience@104 7th
|
Wenatchee
|
Washington
|
USA
|
47.44
|
-120.34
|
611
|
17
|
|
11/3/2015
|
Joyce Kilmer
|
Period 5
|
Milltown
|
NJ
|
Union
|
40.45
|
-74.43
|
636
|
16
|
|
11/4/2015
|
Wyoming Seminary
Lower School
|
Science 7 Bell 4
|
Forty Fort
|
PA
|
USA
|
41.28
|
-75.87
|
636
|
12
|
|
11/4/2015
|
South Callaway Elementary
|
Smart\'s Homeroom
|
Mokane
|
Missouri
|
United States
|
38.4
|
-91.52
|
700
|
14
|
|
11/5/2015
|
Pioneer
|
Knipfer Period 3
|
Wenatchee
|
WA
|
United States
|
47.25
|
-120.19
|
612
|
12
|
|
11/5/2015
|
Pioneer
|
Knipfer Period 4
|
Wenatchee
|
WA
|
United States
|
47.25
|
-120.19
|
612
|
17
|
|
11/5/2015
|
Pioneer Middle School
|
Simmons Period 3
|
Wenatchee
|
Washington
|
United States
|
47.25
|
-120.19
|
612
|
15
|
|
11/5/2015
|
Hawken School
|
Hawken 6th Grade
|
Lyndhurst
|
Ohio
|
USA
|
41.5
|
-81.5
|
634
|
12
|
|
11/5/2015
|
Pioneer Middle School
|
Simmons Period 6
|
Wenatchee
|
Washington
|
United States
|
47.25
|
-120.19
|
612
|
15
|
|
11/12/2015
|
Sea Girt Elementary
|
6 Technology
|
Sea Girt
|
NJ
|
Monmouth
|
40.13
|
-74.34
|
640
|
13
|
|
11/15/2015
|
Rukmini Devi Public School
|
Class 8
|
Delhi
|
Delhi
|
India
|
28.42
|
77.8
|
669
|
29
|
From
the graph of Daylight vs. Latitude and Average Temperature vs. Latitude , we
observed that countries with lower latitudes receive more sunlight & also
have higher temperature with lower latitudes.
It
was an interesting experience while working on the Global Sun Temperature
Project. We certainly look forward to work on it in future.
The complete report can be viewed by using the link:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B6Pex_3K5_ghRzE1aEJ3RXlnTGc
