Env. Question of the Week 07_12

Pennsylvania Center For Environmental Education

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Question of the Week

December 22nd marks the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere ! The winter solstice has been celebrated for thousands of years.
Stonehedge in Winter:

Source: Solstice

An astounding array of ancient cultures built their greatest architectures - tombs, temples, and sacred observatories -so that they aligned with the solstices and equinoxes. For example, Stonehedge was built to mark the summer and winter solstices.

Winter solstice is when, because of the earth's tilt, the northern hemisphere is leaning away from the sun and therefore: Select all that apply
The daylight is the shortest	There is no daylight
The Northern Hemisphere receives only indirect sunlight

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Newgrange is a megalithic site in Ireland. This huge circular stone structure is estimated to be 5,000 years old, older by centuries than Stonehenge, older than the Egyptian pyramids!
newrannge
It was built to receive a shaft of sunlight deep into its central chamber at dawn on winter solstice.

Stuck?

Try thess links:

National Geographic

Pennsylvania Environment and Ecology Standard

4.6 Ecosystems and their Interactions

Activities:

Cosmic Map Game

Recording the Changing Seasons in Acient Times

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The background image is a carving at Newgrange
Source: Candle Grove