Activity Overview
In this activity, students use the TI InterActive!™ software to develop a model that determines the time of sunrise and sunset and the number of daylight hours in Melbourne on any day of the year. They also determine how the position on the Earth's surface affects the model equation.
Before the Activity
Collect data for sunrise and sunset times in the city at regular intervals or on a specific day each month
Install the TI InterActive!™ on the computer
See the attached PDF file for detailed instructions for this activity Print pages 1 - 11 from the attached PDF file for the class
During the Activity
Distribute the pages to the class.
Follow the Activity procedures:
Open the Sun Cycle program and enter the latitude, longitude, and time zone for the city
Record the data for sunrise and sunset
Transfer the data into a TI InterActive!™ spreadsheet
Enter appropriate formulas to calculate the total duration and the total number of daylight hours
Prepare a statistical plot for the sunrise data
Calculate a sinusoidal regression to determine a model for the total number of minutes between midnight and sunrise
Graph the function along with the statistical plot
Determine the amplitude, period, horizontal and vertical translations of the function
Write an expression for the total number of minutes between midnight and sunrise
Check the accuracy of the rule by determining the approximate sunrise time for today and verify with the actual value
Repeat the procedure to obtain an expression for the city's sunset
Calculate the number of daylight hours
Graph sunrise, sunset, and daylight minutes on the same axes
Determine the winter and summer solstice, and equinox dates from the model and check the accuracy
Determine the average number of daylight hours per day for the whole year
For a given longitude, latitude, and time zone, generate an equation to determine the number of daylight minutes
Graph the daylight minutes for the Northern and Southern hemisphere
Compare equations for the Northern and Southern hemisphere
Compare table of values for different latitudes
Observe that a different longitude does not affect the daylight time
After the Activity
Students answer questions on the activity page.
Review student results:
As a class, discuss questions that appeared to be more challenging
Re-teach concepts as necessary