Spring Equinox: Equal Day and Night
Grade 2–4 children find out why the day and the night are almost equal in length in spring. They work out hours of daylight from real sunrise and sunset times for the March 2025 equinox in seven cities, learn why it is not exactly 12 hours, compare with December and June, and measure noon shadows. Includes teacher notes, a graph, a cut-and-paste sort, exit tickets and a worked answer key.
11 printable pages · teacher notes and answer key · Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, United States (Common Core)
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On two days each year, the day and the night are almost the same length. These days are called equinoxes, from words meaning “equal night”. This pack uses real sunrise and sunset times for the spring equinox of March 20, 2025, in Whitehorse, Edmonton, Vancouver, Toronto, Seattle, Miami and Sydney. Children work out how much daylight each place had, find that every one of them is close to 12 hours, and find out why it is not exactly 12.
They then put the equinox in the middle of the year: they compare it with the December and June daylight in the Shortest Day pack, graph how many minutes over 12 hours each city had, and see how the length of a noon shadow of a 10 cm stick changes from winter to spring to summer. A lamp-and-ball model shows why the equinox gives equal day and night everywhere.
Inside: teacher notes with the data sources, a reading, a daylight page, a “why not exactly 12?” page, a three-season comparison, a graph, a noon-shadow page, a lamp model, a cut-and-paste sort, exit tickets and an answer key with every answer worked. You can use this pack on its own; the three-season page includes the December and June numbers. Print in black and white on any printer. The free sample is the teacher notes and the reading.
Sample pages
What's inside
- 01Teacher NotesTeacher notes
- 02Equal Day and NightReading
- 03Daylight on the EquinoxPractice
- 04Why Not Exactly 12 Hours?Practice
- 05Winter, Spring and SummerPractice
- 06Graph the Extra MinutesActivity
- 07Shadows at NoonActivity
- 08Model the EquinoxActivity
- 09Which Day Is It?Cut and paste
- 10Exit TicketsAssessment
- 11Answer KeyAnswer key
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