GEO. 108 – Earth-Sun Geometry Extra Credit Exercise (15 points) Name:______________________

Go to this website: DUE BY FRIDAY February 6th, in class.

www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/mclass/eclipticsimulator.swf

If you cannot access it, contact me and I will help you! You also need to refer to your text, pages 49-54. On the website simulation, use the “click and drag” feature in three places to operate the simulation: click and drag the globe to change its position during its revolution, click and drag the arrow positioned over the months of the year, or click and drag the line of latitude to change the position of the stick figure on the globe.

The simulation uses the term “Sun’s altitude” to refer to the angle of incoming sunlight.

1. In our text, we learn that the term “______________________________________________________” refers to the circle that separates the day hemisphere from the night hemisphere, and the placement of that circle changes with the change of the seasons.

2. March 21st and September 21st are given the term “________________________________,” and these two dates mark two important seasonal changes, from Winter to Spring, and Summer to Fall, respectively.

3. December 21st and June 21st are given the term “___________________________________” and these two dates mark the remaining two seasonal changes, from Fall to Winter and Spring to Summer, respectively.

4. On the website simulator, place the Earth at the date of March 21st. Describe how the Earth is divided between illumination and darkness? In other words, what two points on the Earth does the dividing line pass through?

5. In our text, the term “______________________________________” refers to the spot on the Earth where the Sun is directly overhead at a particular moment. At this spot, with the sun directly overhead at a 90 degree altitude, and the Sun’s rays are striking the Earth at a 90 degree angle. This is the maximum solar energy.

6. On the website simulator, with the Earth still at March 21st, place the stick figure at 0 degrees latitude, or the

EQUATOR. Identify the altitude (angle) of the Sun here: ___________________ This should match Figure

1.22 in your text, and you see that on this date, the Equator is the _________________________ point.

7. On the website simulator, place the Earth at September 22nd, and place the stick figure at 39.0 degrees N latitude, which is our latitude. Identify the Sun’s angle or altitude at this latitude, on this date, and estimate the number of hours of sunlight at this latitude on this date.

8. On the website simulator, place the Earth at June 21st, and place the stick figure at 23.5 degrees N, or as close as you can get (I could get it at 23.4 degrees). What is the altitude of the Sun here? ___________ This is the __________________ point. This line of latitude is called _______________________________________.

9. With the Earth at June 21st, move the stick figure to a point between 66.6 degrees S and 90 degrees S. What are the conditions of illumination at this latitude on June 21st? Referring to Figure 1.23 in our text, how long will those conditions persist, during the 24-hr day at this latitude on June 21st?

10. On the website simulator, place the Earth at December 21st. Place the stick figure at 23.5 degrees S, or as close as you can get. What is the angle of the Sun’s rays at this point? This is the _______________ point, and the line of latitude is called ______________________________________.

11. With the Earth at December 21st, move the stick figure back to that point between 66.6 degrees S and 90 degrees south. What are the conditions of illumination now? How long will those conditions persist, during the 24-hr day at this latitude on Dec. 21st? (Hint: refer to Figure 1.23 in our text)

12. Place the Earth at February 1st. Place the stick figure at the following locations and identify the angle of the sun’s rays, or sun’s “altitude” at each of these locations.

37 degrees north latitude__________________________

23.5 degrees south latitude______________________

48 degrees south latitude ______________________

68 degrees north latitude _______________________

13. Using the website simulator, identify altitude of the sun on the day of your birth, at the place of your birth. To do this, you will also need to use the Internet to look up the Latitude of the town where you were born. This is simple: just Google “Town, State, Country Latitude” and you should find this. If you were born in a location too remote to be found, use the nearest town/city of significant size.

Town/State or Country: _______________________________ Date:_________________________________

Sun’s Altitude:__________________________________

14. On the day of your birth, what location on Earth was the subsolar point?

Date:_________________________________ Subsolar Point:_______________________________________

Geography

Paper details:
Please log in to d2l.msu.edu to view the material you should cover in this discussion(L4&L5) The user name is liuzhang and the password is CherryLZ8. And please cite the news and pictures you used in the discussion. Thanks very much.
Region_Discussion_Guide
Region Discussions
Note 1: Before posting to this discussion, you must complete the required readings (online lessons and textbook sections) for both regions assigned for the week. A list of the discussion topics and their associated lessons follows.
Discussion 2: L4. Megalopolis and L5. Great Lakes & Corn Belt
Intermontane West & MexAmerica
Discussion 5: L10. California and L11. Pacific Northwest
Note 2: Good discussions demonstrate analysis and meaningful connections between concepts, and include references to the lessons and readings, others’ posts, and one’s own experiences. As you contribute your original responses and replies, work on your academic rigor by including analyses and references.
Post an Original Response (due Wednesday, see the course schedule for all dates)
Create a new post in which you address all items 1, 2, and 3 below, based on the assigned lesson and textbook readings for the current week. You should consider writing your response in a Word document and then copy/pasting your response into the discussion post so that you can do a spell check, do not lose your work, and you can save a copy for reference.
For each region, complete (or fill-in) the following statement:

Before I read the lesson, I thought [your answer here] about [name of the region]. Now that I have learned about this region, I know that [your answer here].
Be sure to include at least one specific preconception (true or false) you had about the region, and one specific thing that you learned from the readings that confirmed your preconception or disproved it.
You should have two statements total, one for each region.
From one of the two regions, find an image and insert it into your post. Write a 2-3 sentence caption for it. Be sure to include the source of your photo, even if it is just a name and date. See lesson and text images for examples of captions and citations.
Flickr Creative Commons is a good source of photographs. When you find a photo that is available for use, you can get a share link or download the medium size of the photo. Just be sure you include the photographer and date the photo was taken, and that it is a photo from the creative commons.
To insert a photo into a discussion thread, click on the insert image icon along the top menu bar.
Do not copy text word for word from any source, including the lesson and textbook. Always, put information in your own words!
From the other region (the one you did not do the image captioning for), find a news article that discusses a relevant news item, event or phenomenon, and include a link to the article and a citation for it. Write 2-3 sentences describing the event or phenomenon and why it is relevant to the what you learned in the course readings.
Do not copy text word for word from any source, including article, lesson, and textbook. Always, put information in your own words!
Replies to Others (due Friday, see schedule for all dates)
After posting your original response, you will be allowed to see the posts and replies of students in your discussion group. Check out what those students have written and reply to at least one person. Your reply should significantly contribute to the academic discourse on this topic.
Note 3: While you only need to reply to one person, you are strongly encouraged to participate more by replying to several people. Not only will this help increase your understanding of the material, it will also increase your chances of getting full credit on at least one reply. Besides, you will be taking advantage of the opportunity to interact with fellow students in the class, which may actually be informative and fun!
Grading of Discussion Posts
You are required to submit a discussion post (one post covers two regions) and reply every week. However, you will only be graded on three of your posts (associated replies) throughout the session (worth 10 points each) at random for a total possible discussion post grade of 30 points. On any given week, your instructor may or may not grade your post and, similar to a pop quiz, you will not know on what weeks you will be graded, so be sure to complete your post and reply every week. Both an original post AND one thoughtful response to another student are necessary to receive full credit.
Note 4: The goal of these discussion posts is to not only expand the cognitive development students, but also create a smaller learning community within the larger section. Posting in a timely manner and engaging with your assigned group is critical to learning and will also improve your overall grade in the course.

Geography

Paper details:
Please log in to d2l.msu.edu to view the material you should cover in this discussion(L4&L5) The user name is liuzhang and the password is CherryLZ8. And please cite the news and pictures you used in the discussion. Thanks very much.
Region_Discussion_Guide
Region Discussions
Note 1: Before posting to this discussion, you must complete the required readings (online lessons and textbook sections) for both regions assigned for the week. A list of the discussion topics and their associated lessons follows.
Discussion 2: L4. Megalopolis and L5. Great Lakes & Corn Belt
Intermontane West & MexAmerica
Discussion 5: L10. California and L11. Pacific Northwest
Note 2: Good discussions demonstrate analysis and meaningful connections between concepts, and include references to the lessons and readings, others’ posts, and one’s own experiences. As you contribute your original responses and replies, work on your academic rigor by including analyses and references.
Post an Original Response (due Wednesday, see the course schedule for all dates)
Create a new post in which you address all items 1, 2, and 3 below, based on the assigned lesson and textbook readings for the current week. You should consider writing your response in a Word document and then copy/pasting your response into the discussion post so that you can do a spell check, do not lose your work, and you can save a copy for reference.
For each region, complete (or fill-in) the following statement:

Before I read the lesson, I thought [your answer here] about [name of the region]. Now that I have learned about this region, I know that [your answer here].
Be sure to include at least one specific preconception (true or false) you had about the region, and one specific thing that you learned from the readings that confirmed your preconception or disproved it.
You should have two statements total, one for each region.
From one of the two regions, find an image and insert it into your post. Write a 2-3 sentence caption for it. Be sure to include the source of your photo, even if it is just a name and date. See lesson and text images for examples of captions and citations.
Flickr Creative Commons is a good source of photographs. When you find a photo that is available for use, you can get a share link or download the medium size of the photo. Just be sure you include the photographer and date the photo was taken, and that it is a photo from the creative commons.
To insert a photo into a discussion thread, click on the insert image icon along the top menu bar.
Do not copy text word for word from any source, including the lesson and textbook. Always, put information in your own words!
From the other region (the one you did not do the image captioning for), find a news article that discusses a relevant news item, event or phenomenon, and include a link to the article and a citation for it. Write 2-3 sentences describing the event or phenomenon and why it is relevant to the what you learned in the course readings.
Do not copy text word for word from any source, including article, lesson, and textbook. Always, put information in your own words!
Replies to Others (due Friday, see schedule for all dates)
After posting your original response, you will be allowed to see the posts and replies of students in your discussion group. Check out what those students have written and reply to at least one person. Your reply should significantly contribute to the academic discourse on this topic.
Note 3: While you only need to reply to one person, you are strongly encouraged to participate more by replying to several people. Not only will this help increase your understanding of the material, it will also increase your chances of getting full credit on at least one reply. Besides, you will be taking advantage of the opportunity to interact with fellow students in the class, which may actually be informative and fun!
Grading of Discussion Posts
You are required to submit a discussion post (one post covers two regions) and reply every week. However, you will only be graded on three of your posts (associated replies) throughout the session (worth 10 points each) at random for a total possible discussion post grade of 30 points. On any given week, your instructor may or may not grade your post and, similar to a pop quiz, you will not know on what weeks you will be graded, so be sure to complete your post and reply every week. Both an original post AND one thoughtful response to another student are necessary to receive full credit.
Note 4: The goal of these discussion posts is to not only expand the cognitive development students, but also create a smaller learning community within the larger section. Posting in a timely manner and engaging with your assigned group is critical to learning and will also improve your overall grade in the course.