It’s that time again. Thanks to Earth’s crazy tilt of 23.5 degrees, the northern hemisphere is at the part of Earth’s orbit where we are tilted away from the Sun. This means that the Sun doesn’t get very high in the sky at noon. Scientists call this the Winter Solstice, but most people just call it winter.
This week at Tayama Junior high, I did a small presentation on the seasons before we started to play some Christmas games. I asked the students when Christmas was and what the importance of December 21(22nd in Japan) was. They knew that Christmas was on the 25th, but had no clue about the 22nd. I then explained to them about the solstice and how Earth’s tilt causes the seasons. They seemed flabbergasted. I’m glad I got the chance to explain this, because I feel it’s important to show that many holidays like Christmas are based around the solstice, and that our very concepts of time are based around this important astronomical information.
I’m not really sure if they got everything I was talking about, but some of them seemed interested. I also got them to learn the word solstice. And to me, that was worth it. If you are stuck thinking up a good Christmas lesson, you may wish to try this in your Junior high or High School classes. From here on in, the days can only get longer. Happy solstice.
I got much of the info for this article from this Space.com article. However, I actually planned the lesson a week before they published it. . Oh, I forgot to mention that the Japanese use the word 冬至(touji) when they refer to the winter solstice. It means “winter” “arrive”.
Happy Solstice to you too. :)