Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi! We are struggling a little bit and find the procedures listed in this project vague.
We are uncertain of where to position the heat lamp in proximity to the earth.
We are uncertain of how the protector should be used, if at all?
We are uncertain what latitude/longitude line should be measured three times (one in the northern hemisphere and one in the southern hemisphere, perhaps per "season"?

We think we know that the globe is titled on it's axis ( \ )to the right of the heat lamp for Summer June 21 of the lamp should be 6" away from the globe over the tropic of capricorn. But where do we measure seasons? continents or latitude longitude lines?

We think that the globe should be tilted (\) to the left of the heat lamp with the lamp being 6" away from the tropic of cancer, but again which spot on the globe for Fall.

Then we have the equator for the Winter and Spring. Any clarification would be helpful.

Hello,
This sounds like a very interesting experiment!

Regarding where to position the heat lamp in proximity to the Earth, place the lamp on a horizontal surface. Afterwards, look under the section titled "Background" and take a look at the image at the top of the page. You will see the Earth split into four sections or quadrants. Step number 5 wants you to position the Earth so that only the bottom left section is receiving light from the lamp. Just find the Tropic of Capricorn region on the globe, and ensure that only it is receiving light. You might have to conduct trial and error to figure out the ideal position of the globe away from the lamp so that the specific region you are looking at is the only one exposed to the light.

You might have misread the materials, but they suggest you use a "protractor", which would help you measure angles. Using the protractor, you will take note of of the angle and distance, relative to the globe, at which you hold the thermometer when measuring the temperature of the globe. As well, when you are graphing later, you will have to make a graph measuring Temperature Change vs Angle of the Sun. I hope that answers your question pertaining to the usage of a protractor.

When discussing latitude/longitude lines, you have to be focused on one region on the globe. In this case, it could be the Southern Region around the Tropic of Capricorn. There are several longitudinal lines which run through this region. Pick one of them and for each of the several trials, move along the line of longitude and take readings, three of which intersect with the line of latitude. These would be your points measured.

Finally, answering your question concerned with which spot on the globe would correspond with which season, if all of the light is shining directly on the Southern Hemisphere, this would mean that the dark, Northern Hemisphere region, would be experiencing Winter, and vice versa. Hence, if the light is partially shining on both regions, North and South, this would correspond with Fall and Spring. If all of the light was shining on the Southern region indicating Summer, when fall starts arriving, less light will be directed to the South and more light will be heading to the North.

I really hope this clarifies your inquiries, and if you have any other questions, please feel free to ask!