Paper Plate Education
"Serving the Universe on a Paper Plate"

Video Excerpts: Sunrise Sunset

The following pictures and narration are excerpted from the Paper Plate Astronomy video.

Have you ever noticed when driving how the sun rises or sets to the side of an east-west road, but near the equinoxes it appears directly in your path? In this activity you will observe and record the changing position of the sun at sunrise and sunset through the seasons.

Imagining yourself to be at the center of the plate, you will mark the changing position of the sun against local landmarks.

Around the perimeter of the plate label the cardinal directions and draw familiar features: trees, houses, a flagpole... Then observe the sun for several months as it moves northward from its winter position ... through east... until it “stands still” at its summer solstice limit.... Then the sun will appear to turn around and head back south along the horizon to its winter solstice extreme.

Sunrise pictures (summer solstice, equinox, winter solstice) courtesy of Rick Pirko.

In this farm scene example above, the sun rises left (or north) of the silos in the summer... between the silos at the equinoxes... and right (or south) of the silos in the winter.

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