Turn Daylight Savings Time into a Teachable Moment

Don’t lose sleep over this, but Daylight Savings Time (DST) is here!

On March 11th it's time to set your clocks forward and say goodbye to one hour of sleep!

There’s no time to waste! Make this year’s Daylight Savings Time an engaging and meaningful experience for you and your students.

RAFT has plenty of ideas to help you and your students get ready for DST:

“Time for Shadows” shows you how to quickly assemble an equatorial sundial that you can quickly adjust for daylight savings time! Learn about sun positions and shadows with drinking straws, a protractor, a compass, and a CD!

Use a view binder cover, a watch, a paperclip, straws, the compass, and other easily accessible resources to create a “View Binder Sundial” similar to the one our forefathers used to tell time before clocks were invented!

Create a sand timer (based on the concept of an hourglass), and learn how to measure time with “Sand Timer Primer.”

Why do we have Daylight Savings Time? It is because many people want to gain additional daylight during the early summer evenings. So, clocks are advanced by one hour in the spring, and in the fall, they are set back one hour (the phrases “spring forward” and “fall back” help you remember this). Since 2007, DST begins on the 2nd Sunday of March and ends on the 1st Sunday of November. This year, Sunday, March 11, 2018, 2:00:00 am clocks are turned forward 1 hour to Sunday, March 11, 2018, 3:00:00 am local daylight time.

People follow DST throughout much of the U.S., Canada, and Europe since World War I. Today, about 70 countries around the world observe DST in some form, including most of the United States, but U.S. Federal law does not require its observance. For instance, Arizona, Hawaii, and the territories of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa do not use DST since these areas receive so much sun throughout the year that it is not helpful to gain another hour of sunlight in the summer.

--- By Jeanne Lazzarini, RAFT Math Master Educator/Curriculum Writer

Comments

Science fairs: Nurturing the 21st century thinker

3D Tessellation model A bespectacled 6th grader enthusiastically explains ‘efficiency of 3D space tessellations’ with myriad equations and handmade tessellation patterns to address the needs of the packaging, storing, shipping and construction industry. Another middle school student, was inspired by his little brother’s telescope and built a simple vacuum chamber using a PVC pipe with a microphone and a speaker on both ends to find out how sound travels on Mars! This 8th grader from Granada Islamic School used an oscilloscope his mother found at an auction to measure the sounds. “I poke around and find junk to build my projects. It’s fun.” Science projects today have become fun for many students as they use more hands on activities to experiment and understand concepts. These two middle school students were among 996 participants at the recent Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship , where RAFT was one of the special judges. Moenes Iskarous, President, S...

Thank Goodness for Moms!

Mother’s Day is a great time to recognize one of the most important educators in a student’s life—Mom! I’m so grateful for my own mother (now 91 years old) and all that she’s done for me over the years! She’s the one who gave me the courage to go to college (I’m the first in my family)! Though a mom myself and now a Yiayia (Greek for “grandma”), I often think about the lessons I learned from my mother and her generous love for family and friends. I say it’s truly fitting to celebrate all mothers! Throughout the world, people celebrate Mother’s Day on different days and in various forms. This year in the United States we honor mothers on Sunday, May 13 th . So just how did Mother’s Day begin? The American version of this holiday was created by Anna Jarvis in 1908 and became an official U.S. holiday in 1914. Later on, Anna denounced the commercialization of Mother’s Day and spent a good portion of her later life trying to get it revoked, but it has stayed. Today we cont...

¡Olé! Celebrate Cinco de Mayo

¡ Olé mis amigos! Holy Guacamole! It’s once again time to celebrate Cinco De Mayo—the 5 th of May! Instead of all the controversy around Mexico in the past year, this may be an excellent opportunity to educate your students and allow them to ask questions about what they hear on the news. Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day from Spain (which is September 16 th )! “ ¡ Ay, caramba!” as Bart Simpson would say…. This is “la verdad” (the truth): when the French invaded Mexico in 1862, Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza’s force of 4,000 soldiers defeated 8,000 French soldiers in the Battle of Puebla on May 5 th . The Mexicans’ courage inspired Mexican Americans (Chicanos) to celebrate the victory even though the French occupation continued four more years. Later in the 1960’s and 70’s, Chicanos involved in the civil rights movement associated Cinco de Mayo with their quest for respect in the U.S. They identified with the Native Mexican and Mestizo (people of mi...

RAFT Hands-On Education

Search This Blog