BArT Students Conduct Size of Earth Science Project
ADAMS, Mass. — Students at Berkshire Arts and Technology (BART) Charter Public School and at Oak Hall School in Florida conducted a science project together and determined the size of Earth.
High school seniors in the BART course, "Astronomy: At Home in the Universe," organized and carried out the joint experiment with 1st graders at Oak Hall School in Gainesville, Florida. On three days surrounding the autumnal equinox on Sept. 22, students at the two locations measured lengths of shadows at local solar noon.
"Our students performed an updated version of an experiment performed more than two millennia ago by the Greek scientist and thinker, Erastosthenes," said Jay White, BART’s executive director and teacher for BART’s Astronomy course. "With shadow data from a couple of days, knowledge of the distance between Adams and Gainesville, and geometry and trigonometry, BART’s students determined values for Earth’s radius and circumference less than 1% from the accepted values. That’s fantastic—and it gave BART students the opportunity to connect with a group of bright but much younger students in a different part of the country."
BART students combined data collected at the two schools and determined Earth’s circumference.
"I’m impressed by the students and their work and really appreciate the enthusiasm of the Oak Hall School science teacher, Ginny Switt. BART students and Ms. Switt’s class today Zoomed together to see their results. What a terrific outcome for two schools separated by a thousand miles and situated on a planet 25,000 miles in circumference," White said.
Tags: astronomy, BArT,
