From: Craig Childress (craigchildress@hotmail.com)
Date: Thu Nov 06 2003 - 11:06:14 PST
From: "Craig Childress" <craigchildress@hotmail.com> Subject: Seasons in Antarctica & Emperor Penguins Date: Thu, 06 Nov 2003 11:06:14 -0800 Message-ID: <BAY8-F91GKK9kaQS7ZZ00036021@hotmail.com>
This may be a question for Paul, considering his recent trip to the southern
continent. We gave our physics students a fairly difficult
kinematics/friction problem that involved an Emperor Penguin. We offered a
gift certificate for the correct answer. To avoid multiple awards, we asked
a "tie-breaker" question.
Our tie-breaker question was,"If the situation involving the penguin
happened today, November 3rd, 2003, what season is it relative to the
penguin?"
We thought it would be easy to eliminate incorrect responses. We assumed
that because Emperor Penguins are only found in Antarctica, and that,
Antarctica, being in the Southern Hemisphere, would be experiencing Spring.
After considerable deliberation with internet savvy students, we are having
difficulty awarding the prize. While the students seem to understand the
difference in seasons between the Northern Hemisphere and Southern
Hemisphere, they are coming up with different answers. Some students say it
is Spring and some say it is Summer. National Geographic states that there
are only two Antarctic seasons; Winter and Summer. We were under the
impression that the seasons, EVERYWHERE on the planet, are due to the
Earth's position relative to the Sun.
Is it true that Antarctica experiences only two seasons; Winter and Summer?
Is it correct to say that it is NEVER Spring in Antarctica, regardless of
the position of the Earth relative to the Sun? Why/Why not?
Which answer should receive the prize?
Thanks for any help!!!
Craig Childress
Hillsdale High School
(650) 378-8170 x226
(650) 574-4173 FAX
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