Solar Noon Changes with the Seasons 5 min 59 sec

Solar noon occurs when the sun is at it's highest point in the sky and produces the shortest shadows. Solar noon does not occur at 12:00 pm each day. The time  varies between 11:00 am and 1:30 pm depending on your latitude and longitude and the calendar date.

Now, you need to find your solar noon.  

Tools needed:  a meter stick and 2 short sticks, compass, and writing utensil

1. Plant your meter stick in the ground. It must be perfectly upright.
2. Use the compass to find North.
3. Plant a short stick 0.5 meters North of the long stick. Plant the second short stick 0.5 meters south of the meter stick. The sticks form a sun dial. When the shadow of the Sun touches the northern short stick, the time is solar noon.
4. Enter the current date and solar noon time into your project journal.

Repeat the steps above on March 19, 20. 21 or 22 and June 19, 20, 21 or 22 with all the other students and schools participating in this project.

Note to teachers:

This activity would be a precursor to Activity 6 and students just see how the angle falls without measuring the angle.This is also something that could be a long-term fixture at a school that could be viewed periodically as an extension of the project.