Sunlight and the Seasons
A Video Snapshot of Mystery Class

In a global game of hide and seek called Mystery Class, students track changing daylength at ten secret sites around the world. They discover that changing sunlight is what drives seasonal changes. This, in turn, affects the entire web of life.

Clip #1 >>
 Changing Sunlight Causes Seasons
The changing seasons are all driven by one phenomenon... the Earth's relationship with the Sun.
Clip #2 >>
 Track the Changing Photoperiod

Plotting photoperiod relveals the latitude of each site.

Once a week for eleven weeks, students receive sunrise and sunset times for ten secret mystery sites. They graph the data and see patterns.

Clip #3 >>
 Discover Longitude

Clues on the Equinox reveal the longitude of each site.

On the spring equinox, sunrise data reveals the approximate longitude of each secret site. With longitude uncovered, the search for secret sites is narrowing.
Clip #4 >>
 Search With Interdiciplinary Clues

More clues pinpoint locations.		 After the spring equinox, weekly informational clues about the history, geography, culture and other aspects of a location are provided, leading students progressively closer to unlocking the secret locations.
Clip #5 >> Share Your Discovery

 		 The first week in May brings the day the students have all been waiting for... the day the secret Mystery sites are revealed. More investigation comes, as students rush to see how close they came and where they went wrong.
   
Mystery Class supports scientific observations, data collection, and student-directed inquiry. Students learn the importance of establishing and following a scientific protocol. Students develop a deep grasp of these important concepts because they puzzle them out in real time as the project unfolds over two and a half months.