February 2012 | Blogs
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Leaping Into Leap Year!
It’s almost here, Leap Day! When? On Wednesday, February 29. That will give us 366 days in 2012 instead of 365. Why do we need that extra day, anyway? Believe it or not, without a leap year about every four years, we would lose days.
The problem is that our calendar and the number of the Earth’s revolutions around the Sun do not match. Our calendar has only 365 days in a year but it takes the Earth approximately 365.242199 days to make it around the Sun. Even though that doesn’t seem like a big difference, .242199 is about a quarter of a day a year and in four years we would lose almost a day. Think about it! Seasons would...
Sunday, February 19, 2012
It Is 34 Degrees Outside -- Is it Hot Out or Cold Out? (Depends where you live!)
There are primarily three different ways to measure temperature: Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvins. In the United States, we use Fahrenheit. In Europe, they use Celsius. Scientists use Kelvins. These are three very different scales.
I just looked at my thermometer and saw that it is 34o. Depending on the part of the world I am in, 34o can mean two terrifically different temperatures. 34o Fahrenheit is equal to 1.1o Celsius and is pretty cold. When going outside today, we are wearing a winter coat, a hat, and mittens. This is a picture of my front yard -- we have no leaves and the grass is brown. 34o Celsius is equal to 93o Fahrenheit and that...
Sunday, February 12, 2012
We Made Science Valentine's Day Cards!
For Valentine's Day, we made Science Valentine's Day Cards! (We know, they are corny!)
