Number of Days in the Month

Why do some months have 30 days when other months have 31 days?

Why are most months 30 or 31 days long?

If it takes the Moon 28 or 29 days to orbit the earth, why are most months 30 or 31 days long?

Research Source:
URL: http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=187
Last modified: February 3, 2006 12:01:39 PM

This has resulted from a compromise. Initially, months were mostly 29 days long and the average length of a month was 29.5 days which is the time taken by the Moon to orbit the Earth. However, this resulted in a year of only 354 days while the orbital period of the Earth is 365.2422 days. As a result, the calender became out of sync with seasons which was bad. This was initially corrected in an arbitrary way by adding a 13th month, but soon the calender was thrown into severe confusion.

In 46 B.C., Julius Caesar reformed the calender by ordering the year to be 365 days in length and to contain 12 months. This forced some days to be added to some of the months to bring the total from 354 up to 365 days. To account for the extra 0.2422 days, every fourth year was made a leap year. This made the average length of a year to be 365.25 days.

However, the Julian year still differs from the true year and by 1582, the error had accumulated to 10 days. So, 10 days were dropped from the year 1582 so that October 4, 1582 was followed by October 15, 1582. In addition, a modification was made that century years that were not divisible by 400 would not be considered as leap years. For example, 2000 would be a leap year while 2100 would not. This made the year sufficiently close to the actual year and this calender is called the Gregorian calender.

As the year is now set up to follow the seasons accurately, it no longer follows the phases of the Moon.


Research Source:
URL: http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=187
Last modified: February 3, 2006 12:01:39 PM

What is a land hurricane, and how often do they occur?

In researching the hurricane question, I first decided to see what the experts had to say about the weather phenomenon that swept through Southern Illinois. So, I went to the WGN website (www.wgn.com) to see what Tom Skilling was reporting. Here is what I found:

Today's Ask Tom Why

Dear Tom,
While visiting Southern Illinois this weekend people were referring to last Friday's storm
as an "inland hurricane." Was it?

Gail Robertson, Christine Steffy, Mary Essling,Daniel Beach, Sean Leidigh

Dear Gail, Christine, Mary, Daniel and Sean,

The storm that ravaged the southern Midwest on May 8th was not a hurricane, but a
derecho, a fast-moving and long-lasting line of thunderstorms producing an almost
continuous path of straight-line wind damage that often extends for more than a 1,000
miles. This massive thunderstorm complex was streaking east at speeds approaching
70 m.p.h. and packing peak winds in excess of 100 m.p.h. After a damage survey, Bill
Davis, head of the National Weather Service in Springfield, Mo., commented that the
storm was like an "inland hurricane" because of its size and its hurricane force winds,
and that terminology spread like wildfire.

Posted by wgnweather at 9:33 PM

After further researching a deracho, I found the following answers regarding what it is and how often it occurs at http://www.spc.noaa.gov/misc/AbtDerechos/derechofacts.htm:

ABOUT DERECHOS

Part of the Storm Prediction Center, NCEP, NWS, NOAA Web Site
Prepared by Robert H. Johns and Jeffry S. Evans (with the help of many others)

Contact Us: About Derechos Feedback

Information will be updated from time to time, so please check the "What's New"
page to see the what has been added or changed.

DERECHO FACTS PAGE

DERECHO DEFINITION

What is a derecho?
A derecho (pronounced similar to "deh-REY-cho" in English or pronounced phonetically as "") is a widespread and long lived windstorm that is associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms.

Because derecho is a Spanish word (see paragraph below), the plural term is "derechos". In this case there is no letter "e" after the letter "o".

What is the origin of the term "derecho"?
The word "derecho" was coined by Dr. Gustavus Hinrichs, a physics professor at the University of Iowa, in a paper published in the American Meteorological Journal in 1888. Dr. Hinrichs chose this terminology for thunderstorm induced straight-line winds as an analog to the word tornado. Derecho is a Spanish word which can be defined as "direct" or "straight ahead" while tornado is thought by some, including Dr. Hinrichs, to have been derived from the Spanish word "tornar" which means "to turn".

DERECHO PRODUCING STORMS

What kind of storms cause derechos?
Derechos are associated with a band of showers or thunderstorms that are often "curved" in shape. These bowed out storms are called “bow echoes”. A derecho can be associated with a single bow echo or multiple bow echoes. The bow echoes may vary in scale and may die out and redevelop during the course of derecho evolution. Further, derecho winds can be enhanced on a smaller scale by embedded supercells within the derecho producing storm system.

TYPES OF DERECHOS

Are there different kinds of derechos?
There are three types of derechos. One type is called a “serial” derecho and is produced by multiple bow echoes embedded in an extensive squall line (typically many hundreds of miles long) that sweeps across a very large area, both wide and long. This type of derecho is typically associated with a strong, migrating, low pressure system. An example of serial derecho with a very extensive squall line and with embedded smaller scale bow echoes is the one that affected Florida, Cuba, and adjacent portions of the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean on March 12-13, 1993.

The second type of derecho is called a “progressive” derecho and it is associated with a relatively short line of thunderstorms (typically from 40 miles to 250 miles in length) which may at times take the shape of a single bow echo, particularly in the early stages of development. In some cases, the width of the progressive derecho and its associated bow echo system remain relatively narrow even though they may travel for hundreds of miles. An example of this is the “Boundary Waters-Canada Derecho” which occurred on July 4-5, 1999. In other cases, the progressive derecho and associated bow echo system may start out relatively small with a narrow path. However, with time the bow echo system and progressive derecho grow in scale, and they may exceed 250 miles in width towards the middle and latter portions of their path. Initially, the line of thunderstorms may start out as a single bow echo, but as it evolves, it becomes a short squall line, typically with more than one bow echo segment. An example of such development occurred with the "I-94 Derecho" on July 19, 1983.. The progressive derecho is often associated with a weak low pressure system but it may travel for many hundreds of miles along a path that is relatively narrow compared with the path of a serial derecho.

The third type of derecho is "hybrid" and may have mixed characteristics of both a "progressive" and a "serial" nature. For example, the "Southern Great Lake Derecho of May 30-31, 1998. was associated with a strong migrating low pressure system. However, the derecho path and the associated bow echo system had many characteristics of a progressive derecho event.

STRENGTH AND VARIATION OF DERECHO WINDS

How strong are derecho winds?
By definition winds in a derecho must meet the National Weather Service criterion for severe wind gusts (greater than 57 mph) at most points along the derecho path. In the stronger derecho events winds can exceed 100 mph. For example, as a derecho roared through northern Wisconsin on July 4, 1977, winds of 115 mph were measured. More recently, the derecho which swept across Wisconsin and Lower Michigan during the early morning hours of May 31, 1998produced a measured wind gust of 128 mph in eastern Wisconsin and estimated gusts up to 130 mph in Lower Michigan.

Are the strong winds associated with a derecho relatively constant in speed during the period the derecho exists?
The winds associated with derechos are not constant and may vary considerably along the derecho path...sometimes being below severe limits (57 mph or less) and sometimes being very strong (from 75 mph to greater than 100 mph). The patches of stronger winds embedded within the general derecho path are called downbursts and they are often in clusters. A derecho is made up of a family of downburst clusters and by definition must be at least 240 miles in length. An example of a derecho where the varying wind speeds are quite evident is the one that occurred on July 4-5, 1980.

CASUALTY AND DAMAGE RISKS FROM DERECHOS

What happens when a strong derecho hits a city?
As mentioned above, whether inside or outside a city, people are most at risk of being killed or injured when they are outside, in vehicles, or in mobile homes. Another factor that often affects large numbers of people after the passage of a derecho is the widespread loss of electrical power. And in large cities the power loss can affect hundreds of thousands of people. In some instances, portions of the city may be without electrical power for one to two weeks. Examples of large cities in which strong derechos resulted in long power outages in much of the metropolitan area include Kansas City, Missouri (June 7, 1982) and Memphis, Tennessee (July 22, 2003).

DERECHO CLIMATOLOGY

Where and when are derechos most frequent in the United States? Derechos in the United States are most common in the late spring and summer (May through August) and typically occur along two axes. One axis extends along the "corn belt" from the upper Mississippi Valley into the Ohio Valley. The other warm season axis extends from the mid Mississippi Valley into the southern Plains. During the cool season (September through April) derechos are not as frequent, but are most likely to occur from eastern Texas into the southeastern states. Although derechos are extremely rare in that portion of the United States west of the Great Plains, isolated derecho events have occurred in the interior portions of the western United States during the spring.

TORNADOES IN DERECHO ENVIRONMENTS

Can derechos and tornadoes occur with the same storm system? Derechos and tornadoes can occur with the same storm system. This is particularly so with strong, migrating low pressure systems that produce serial derachos. The tornadoes may occur with isolated supercells (rotating thunderstorms) ahead of the derecho producing squall line, or they may be associated with the squall line itself. An example of a serial derecho, with both extremely damaging straight-line winds and significant tornadoes associated with supercells embedded within the derecho producing squall line, occurred in Florida during the "superstorm" of March 12-13, 1993.

HISTORIC DERECHO EVENTS

What are some of the more significant derecho events that have occurred in North America?
Records indicate that many significant derecho events...causing severe damage and casualties....have occurred in North America (typically in Canada and the United States) during the last few decades. Listed below are the dates and areas affected by some of these events. By clicking on the individual event dates you can see the areas affected and learn some of the details about what happened.

Independence Day Derecho Events

July 4, 1969............."The Ohio Fireworks Derecho"....MI, OH, PA, WV
July 4, 1977............."The Independence Day Derecho of 1977"....ND, MN, WI, MI, OH
July 4-5, 1980.........."The 'More Trees Down' Derecho"....NE, IA, MO, IL, WI, IN, MI, OH, PA, WV, VA, MD
July 4-5, 1999.........."The Boundary Waters-Canadian Derecho"....ND, MN, ON, QB, NH, VT, ME

July 1995 Derecho Series
July 12-13, 1995......"The Right Turn Derecho"....MT, ND, MN, WI, MI, ON, OH, PA, WV
July 14-15, 1995......"The Ontario-Adirondacks Derecho"....MI, ON, NY, VT, NH, MA, CT, RI

Labor Day Derecho Events

Sept. 7, 1998..........."The Syracuse Derecho of Labor Day 1998"....NY, PA, VT, MA, NH
Sept. 7, 1998..........."The New York City Derecho of Labor Day 1998"....MI, OH, WV, PA, NJ, NY, CT

Serial Derecho Events

April 9, 1991............"The West Virginia Derecho of 1991"....AR,TN, MS, AL, KY, IN, OH, WV, VA, MD, PA
March 12-13, 1993.."The Superstorm Subtropical Derecho"....FL, Cuba

Southern Plains Derecho Events

May 4-5, 1989.........."The Texas Derecho of 1989"....TX, OK, LA
May 27-28, 2001......"The People Chaser Derecho"....KS, OK, TX

Some Other Significant Derecho Events

June 7, 1982.............."The Kansas City Derecho of 1982"....KS, MO, IL
July 19, 1983............."The I-94 Derecho"....ND, MN, IA, WI, MI, IL, IN
May 17, 1986............"The Texas Boaters' Derecho".....TX
July 28-29, 1986......."The Supercell Transition Derecho"....IA, MO, IL
July 7-8, 1991............"The Southern Great Lakes Derecho of 1991"....SD, IA, MN, WI, MI, IN, OH, ON, NY, PA
May 30-31, 1998......."The Southern Great Lakes Derecho of 1998"....MN, IA, WI, MI, ON, NY
July 22, 2003............"The Mid-South Derecho of 2003"....AR, TN, MS, AL, GA, SC

How Did Mother's Day Begin

Since I found this information at a .com site, I cross checked it three times. It was accurate and thorough, so I am including a new site that I came across called Chiff.com which uses the slogan: What the World is Looking for

The Origins of Mother's Day

Mother’s Day, Muttertag, La Festa della Mamma, Mothering Sunday, Fête des Mères, Día de las Madres... it goes by many different names, but however you say it, the expression of love and appreciation is the same.

Motherhood has always been celebrated. In prehistoric tribes the mother Goddess was worshiped as the creator of life. Female goddess figures are found in many archeological digs. In Egypt, Isis was the Queen of Heaven who ruled over all matters concerning mothering. In ancient Greece Rhea was revered as the mother goddess and in ancient Rome it was Hera, the jealous wife of Zeus, and another mother goddess known as Cybele. Most mothering festivals in early history were in the springtime to celebrate the rebirth of the land and the beginning of the most fertile time of the year. These festivities honored the goddess in all women.

The modern version of Mother's Day with families bringing flowers and gifts to their moms can be traced back to seventeenth century England. Mothering Sunday was the fourth Sunday in Lent...a special day when all the strict rules about fasting and penance were put aside. Older children who were away from home learning a trade or working as servants were allowed to return home for Mothering Sunday. The family gathered for a mid-Lenten feast with Mother as the special guest. Along with a rare visit from her children, mothers were given treats of cakes and wildflower bouquets. While ‘Mothering Sunday’ is still celebrated, most now know it as Mother’s Day.

The history of Mother's Day in the rest of the world is a bit different. In the USA, the early English settlers often disapproved of the more secular holidays and the Mothering Sunday tradition never really took hold. Early attempts to have a day to honor mother's were mixed with woman's suffrage and peace movements and were not very popular.

Julia Ward Howe, who wrote the words to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, suggested the idea of an International Mother's day to celebrate peace and motherhood in 1872. There were many other women who were active with local groups holding annual Mother's Day remembrances, but most were more religious gatherings and not the holiday that we know today.

One of the women, who was working on establishing Mother's Day as a national celebration was the mother of Anna Jarvis. Mrs. Jarvis held an annual gathering, Mother’s Friendship Day, to heal the pain of the Civil War. After she died in 1905, Anna campaigned for the establishment of an official Mother’s Day to commemorate her mother.

"Miss Anna Jarvis was as good as her word. She devoted her entire life to the struggle to have Mother's Day declared a national holiday. In the spring of 1908, Anna wrote to the Superintendent of Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where her mother had taught Sunday School classes for over 20 years. She requested that a Mother's Day service be held in honor of her mother. Thus, the first official Mother's Day celebration was held at Andrew's Methodist Church on May 10, 1908, with 407 persons in attendance. Anna Jarvis sent 500 white carnations to the church in Grafton. One was to be worn by each son and daughter and two by each mother in attendance. Another service was held in Philadelphia later that afternoon where Anna resided with her brother. Anna had requested that the first official service be held in Grafton, where the Jarvis family had lived so much of their lives and where her mother had served for so long as a teacher and public servant." ( Mother's Day Shrine.org)

Anna Jarvis' campaign is the reason we have a formal holiday. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson declared that Mother’s Day should be celebrated as a national holiday on the second Sunday in May.

It didn't take very long for Mother's Day to change from a semi-religious occasion of prayers for peace and appreciation of the work and love of mothers around the world to a gifts, flowers, candy and dining out extravaganza. Anna Jarvis was actually arrested at a Mother’s Day festival while trying to stop women from selling flowers. Jarvis said “I wanted it to be a day of sentiment not profit.”

Mother's Day may not have turned out to be the holiday that Julia Ward Howe, Anna Jarvis and countless other women around the world imagined, but it is a celebration of mothers...dedicated to honoring the women who give so much to their families without asking for anything in return. Perhaps every day should be Mother's Day, but most families are too busy with everyday business to say thank you for every meal or every good night kiss.

Once every year, the world stops being busy and says thank you. Flowers, cards and gifts are just the outward signs. What mothers love most is the fact that their families really do notice all that they do and for one day every mom is queen for a day...

Happy Mother's Day!

What the World is Looking for

http://www.chiff.com/a/mothers-day-history.htm

How far is it to the sky?

This question is debatable since the atmosphere continues, in some form of density, to the outer corners of space. However, this source seemed to best explain the distance from the ground to the various layers of the atmosphere.

Distance from the ground

0-10 km to the troposhere

10-50 km is the stratosphere
50-87 km is the mesosphere
87-500 km is the thermosphere
500-520km++ exosphere

Layers of the Earth's atmosphere:
The atmosphere is divided into five layers. It is thickest near the surface and thins out with height until it eventually merges with space. 1) The troposphere is the first layer above the surface and contains half of the Earth's atmosphere. Weather occurs in this layer.
2) Many jet aircrafts fly in the stratosphere because it is very stable. Also, the ozone layer absorbs harmful rays from the Sun.
3) Meteors or rock fragments burn up in the mesosphere.
4) The thermosphere is a layer with auroras. It is also where the space shuttle orbits.
5) The atmosphere merges into space in the extremely thin exosphere. This is the upper limit of our atmosphere.

The source of this material is Windows to the Universe, at http://www.windows.ucar.edu/ at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). © The Regents of the University of Michigan. Windows to the Universe® is a registered trademark of UCAR.

Here is a site that I found which ties the study of tulips to a project called Journey North: a study in tulip science grades k-8. In addition, in visiting the site, all of the science activities are directly linked to learning standards via a chart that is provided on the home page. This is a very interesting use of spiraling curriculum across a district.

Site:http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/tulips/StandardsChart.html
I have included two parts of the sits:
1. The summary of sections
2. The section of the site which holds the answer to the research question. I obtained the information from a background information link off of the teacher page of "What's Happening Underground/bulb life cycle" lesson plan.

I accessed this teacher resource via a google search in which I used the key terms "tulip bulb science".

National Science Education Standards

Journey North's Tulip project helps bring a wide range of National Science Education Standards to life. Browse this chart by content area and then link directly to information and activities that reflect your teaching goals. As you review the activities, consider how you can adapt them to your unique context and students' abilities.

A. Science as Inquiry
B. Physical Science
C. Life Science
D. Earth and Space Science
E. Science and Technology
F. Science in Personal and Social Perspectives
G. History and Nature of Science

Research Question Answer:

What's Happening Underground?

Bulb Life Cycles

— Teacher Background —

(Back to Activity)

Are bulbs completely dormant and lifeless underground, or is something actually going on? Read on to learn a bit about bulb life cycles:

Fall - Winter
Each fall, we plant spring-flowering bulbs that are in their dormant (resting) stage. When the underground temperature drops below about 50 degrees F, each bulb begins to form roots again in preparation for blooming in the spring. You can see these if you dig up a bulb during this period. The cold also triggers cells that will begin to make new leaves and flower buds in preparation for spring. Although you can't see this, this period of at least 9 weeks of temperatures below 50 degrees is necessary for the plant to bloom again. (In warmer climates, people artificially simulate winter by keeping bulbs in the refrigerator or another cool place for 9 weeks. People also use this strategy to "force" bulbs to bloom indoors. See Hurrying Spring.)

Spring:
Spring warmth and rains trigger the bulb to begin to grow rapidly, pushing up the shoots, leaves, and flower bud. Finally, the bud bursts into bloom.

Late Spring - Summer:
Most people will walk right past a bed of green-leaved tulips after they have bloomed and ignore them. Little do they know that this is a really important time in the life of this little bulb plant. The leaves continue to grow and make food for the plant. New bulblets form next to the original bulb and start to grow.*

During the summer, the leaves die back, the roots dry up, and the food is stored in the dormant (resting) bulb and bulblets. In the fall, the cycle begins again.

---

*Making New Bulbs:
A bulb propagates itself asexually by growing small bulblets attached to the original bulb. It can take a year or more before bulblets are big enough to produce blooms. Because these grow right from the parent plant, they produce the exact same flower type and color.

Bulbs also produce seed, but they can take up to six years to produce a flower this way — and the new plant isn't likely to look like the parent. Plant breeders often cross-pollinate two types of bulbs to produce seeds of a brand new variety.