Handbook of Nature-Study 



LESSON CCXXXII 

 THE RELATION OF THE SUN TO THE EARTH. 



Leading thought The sun which is the source of all our light and heat 

 and, therefore, of all life on our globe travels a path that is higher across the 

 sky in June than the path which it follows in December, and hence we 

 experience changes of seasons. The lesson should be given to the pupils of 

 the upper grades and should be correlated with reading, arithmetic and 

 thinking. 



Observations i. What does the sun do for us? 



2 . At what time of the day after the sun rises do we get the least heat 

 from it ? What hour of the day do we get the most heat from it ? 



3 . Is the sun equally hot all day ? Why does it seem hotter to us at 

 one time of the day than at another? 



4. At what hour does the sun rise and set on the first of the following 

 months; February, March, Arpil, May and June? 



5 . Which is the shortest day of the year, and how long is it ? 



6. Which is the longest day of the year, and how many hours and 

 minutes are there in it? 



7 . What day of the year is the sun nearest a point directly over our 

 heads at mid-day ? 



8. Which day of the year is the sun at mid-day farthest from the point 

 directly above our heads? Explain why this is so. 



9. Standing in a certain place, mark by some building, tree or other 

 object just where the sun rises in the east and sets in the west on the first of 

 February. Observe the rising and setting of the sun from the same place 

 on the first day of March and again on the first of April. Does it rise and 

 set in the same place always or does it move northward or southward ? 



10. Is the sun farthest south on the shortest day of the year? If so, is 

 it farthest north on the longest day of the year ? 



n. At what time of the year does the sun rise due east and set due 



west? 



12. The sun is so much larger than the earth that its force of gravity 

 is twenty-seven and two-thirds times that of the earth. How much would 

 your watch weigh if you were living on the sun ? How much would you 

 yourself weigh if you were there? 



1 3 . Experiment. A shadow stick Place a peg two or three inches high 

 upright in a board and place the board lengthwise on the sill of a south 



window or where it will get the 

 south light. Note the length 

 cast by the shadow of the peg 

 during a sunny day and draw a 

 line with pencil or chalk out- 

 lining the tip of the shadow of 

 the stick from 9 a. m. to 

 A shadow-stick. 4 p. m. Make a similar out- 



line a month later and again a 



month later and note whether the shadow traces the same line during 

 each of these days of observation. Note especially the length of the 

 shadow at noon. 



