MIDDLE / HIGH
SCHOOL ACTIVITY :
SUNSPOTS AND SUNSPOT NUMBERS
Developed by Clarence Wise, Quince
Orchard High School, Gaithersburg, Maryland
PROCEDURE:
The first part of this activity involves student
research into the nature of sunspots.. There are a wealth of resources
available on the Internet. If at all possible students should try
to use the Net as their primary source. A very good starting point
is YAHOO.
Students should look for information in the following
area:
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What are sunspots?
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What causes sunspots?
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What is the "history" of sunspots?
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How do sunspots influence the Earth?
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How is sunspot data collected?
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What is the sunspot "cycle"?
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Are sunspots related to other features of the sun?
OTHER LINKS:
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NOAA :
Contains information on Rudolph Wolf as well as background information
on solar phenomena and how sunspot data is gathered. It also contains
a graph
of sunspot numbers from 1700-1995.
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Mt. Wilson
Observatory: Introduction, information on earliest observations, the
11 year cycle, and the magnetic nature of sunspots.
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NASA:
More background information.
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A second NASA site contains sunspot
activities including one that uses a spreadsheet to study solar maximum
& minimum.
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Big Bear Observatory:
Sun images, including daily images.
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Cyberspace
Middle School: Has a lab on observing and measuring sunspots.
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Royal Observatory
of Belgium: Sunspot data
from 1700-1995.
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Georgia State
University: A time line of events related to solar astronomy.
For the second part of this activity, the students
will need to analyze sunspot data and compare it to the "accepted" value
for the sunspot cycle. There are several options for how to accomplish
this.
-
If you want to give students practice in constructing
graphs by hand, then give them the sunspot data
(1700-1995) and have them graph all or part of the information. One
variation would be to give a group of 3 or 4 students the task of dividing
up the data and constructing individual graphs :1700-1799,1800-1899,1900-1995.
Students will need to make sure that they are using the same scale on the
x and y axes before beginning. The individual graphs could then be
put together to analyze the data.
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A second possibility would be to give students the
sunspot data
and have them use a computer spreadsheet or graphing program. Students
could enter the data and then have a graph generated by the computer.
They would then continue with the analysis questions.
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A third option would be to give students the data
and graph
and have them proceed directly to the analysis questions.
ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSIONS
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Count the number of years between each of
the high points on the graph and make a list of these numbers.
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Average the list of numbers in #1 and round
your answer to a whole number. This represents the average solar
maximum.
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Now count the number of years between each
of the low points on the graph and make a list of these numbers.
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Average the list in #3 and round to a whole number
for the average solar minimum.
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How do the values for the 2 averages compare?
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How does your value for the sunspot cycle compare
to the "standard" value?
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Why do scientists study sunspots?
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Why would it be important to know the cycle of
solar minimum and maximum?
