CU2-1

2:1 **Title:** Calendars - Marking Time in relation to Holidays, Observances, Commemorations and life cycle events
 * Goals: ** Students will review the measurements of time (day, month, season, year) and their relation to observable events (sunrise/sunset, phase of the moon, solstice, equinox) and then review the names of secular Jewish celebrations and observances. Students will relate the holidays, etc. to the measures of time and determine when they occur in this year’s solar calendar (http://bnaibrith.org/caln.html). The lesson presages much of the material to be covered in the remainder of the year.
 * Materials:** Crayons, clear tape, colored yarn, scissors, index cards in an envelope with names and solar dates in thick letters of secular Jewish Observances. In the center of the card above each name, color in an arrow pointing to the top of the card, Twenty-foot scroll of non-stretching, rollable material (//e. g//. leather, oil cloth). Before class, with the scroll opening horizontally, lightly mark lines for 18 months worth of solstices and equinoxes, starting with the summer solstice and separating adjacent lines (seasons) by 3 feet of scroll to give 12 feet per year, 18 feet per 1 ½ years. Make the summer solstice line (18 hours) 9 inches high, the winter solstice line (6 hours) 4 inches high and the equinoxes (12 hours) 6 inches high. Make sure 1 year is 12 feet. Save scroll for later lessons.

**__ Duration __** || || ** Days ** || ** Inches ** || Day || 1 ||   0.39  ||    || Feb || 28 ||   11.04  ||   ~11  || Hebrew Months || 29 ||   11.43  ||   ~11 3/8"  ||  Hebrew Months; Apr, Jun, Sep, Nov  ||   30  ||   11.83  ||   ~11 3/4"  || Jan,Mar,May,Jul, Aug,Oct,Dec || 31 ||   12.22  ||   ~12 1/4"  || Season ||   91.31  ||   36.00  ||   3'  || Lunar Year ||   354  ||   139.56  ||   ~11' 7.5"  || Solar Year || 365.3 ||   144.00  ||   12'  || Solar – Lunar || 11.25 ||   4.44  ||   ~ 4 1/2"  || Get dates for the Jewish Holidays and for the students’ birthdays from http://www.uwm.edu/cgi-bin/corre/calendar. The dates below are for 2003-2004
 * Scroll Scale ** ||||||
 * Scroll Scale ** ||||||
 * Appx Size ** ||

Holiday  || Solar || Hebrew || Rosh Hashanah || September 27 || Tis 1 || Yom Kippur || October 6 || Tis 10 || Sukkot || October11 || Tis 15 || Hanukkah || December 20 || Kis 25 || Tu B'shvat || February 7 || Shevat 15 || Purim || March 7 || Ada 14 || Passover || April 6 || Nis 15 || Shavuos || May 26 || Siv 6 ||

**Gain the attention of the learner.** Ask students to close their eyes and raise their hands after what they think is 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes. Write down the name of the student and the actual times of his/her estimates. Bring in a variety of mechanical time-keepers that might have been available to ancient Jews (sand/salt grain timer, sun dial, candle).
 * 1) **Review relevant past learning.** Review the names of the Jewish holidays, etc. observed by Folkshul. Review units of time, especially those longer than an hour.
 * 2) **Present new material.** Some units of time originally depended on observations about the sun and others the moon. A day is from sunrise to sunrise, sunset to sunset, etc. The summer solstice (June 21) occurs on the day with the most amount of daylight (which is hard to determine if you can’t measure hours) and when the shadow of a measuring stick is shortest at noon (the time of day when the sun makes the shortest shadow of the day). The winter solstice occurs on the day with the least amount of daylight and the longest shadow at noon (December, 21). The equinoxes occur when the amount of day and night are equal and the noontime shadow is equal to about the average of the noontime shadows at the summer and winter solstices. The solstices and equinoxes divide the year into four seasons: |Summer Solstice, 6/21|<**Summer**>|Fall equinox, 9/22|<**Fall**>|Winter Solstice, 12/22|<**Winter**>|Spring Equinox, 3/21|<**Spring**>|Summer Solstice, 6/21|<**Summer**>| Fall equinox, 9/22|. Thus, the seasons can be determined by the length of the noontime shadow of a standard stick. On the scroll, draw in the solstices and equinoxes for 2 years and write in the name of the season between each solstice and equinox.
 * 3) **Provide guided practice.** Ask students, one by one, to pull a card from the envelope and sort it in on the scroll by the standard calendar. Join first and last days of multi-day observances with a piece of colored yarn going from arrow to arrow of the cards.
 * 4) **Provide independent practice.** Have students select a season of the year. Each child should draw a picture for their passport of an observance based on the season in which it occurs.
 * Close the lesson. **Discuss which holidays appear to be related to the solstices and equinoxes and which do not.