Why do we have Leap Years and good ol'
Leap Year Day on February 29th?
How did this come to be and why is it every
four years... most of the time?
The simplest answer to most of these questions is that the earth takes just under 365 ¼ days to revolve around the sun. If every year were only 365 days, eventually the seasons would shift from the calendar days we observe on our calendars. If every year there were 366 days, the same would happen, but in the opposite direction. That extra quarter day we “miss” each year is made up on the fourth year on February 29th and is called “Leap Year Day”.
Here is a great online article explaining how leap year came to be:
Here is another article with information on more specifics of how time has been changed to keep the clock in line with the sun:
Activity ideas for the littlest leapers:
- Think of animals that leap (ex. frog) and leap high, leap fast, leap with paint on your hands and feet to mark where your leaping prints go!
- Recite the days of the week and months of the year.
- Count to 29!
- Teach:“Thirty days has September
April, June, and November
All the rest have thirty-one
Not February, it's a different one
It has twenty-eight, that's fine
A Leap Year makes it twenty-nine” - Count out 29 beans (pieces of cereal, blueberries, etc.).
- Ask... “How many groups of three can you make?”, “How many groups of seven?”, “Is there any way to divide these up into groups that all look the same?”
- Give examples of odd and even numbers. Also give examples of dividing a larger amount into smaller groups in which the items all fit in evenly (same amount to each group) and when they don't (some groups have more or less).
Activity ideas for larger leapers:
- Ask thought-provoking questions like...
- “If there is a leap year every four years, and this year is a leap year, when will the next leap year be?”
- “Do we have to keep adding four to find out when the 7th leap year in this century will be?”, “What other operation can we use that makes adding things over and over again easier?”
- “If Steve was born on February 29, 2008, how many actual birthdays will he have by the year 2039?”
- Visit “A Walk Through Time” together to learn about the history of measuring time.
- Plan a Leap Day party
- use the number 29 as your theme and let your brain go wild with ideas
- think of other cultures calendars...
- think of the seasons, the sun, the earth...
- Revolution and Rotation
- have one person stand in the middle and be the sun
- have another person "Earth" stand a few feet away from the "sun", facing the sun
- Earth begins by turning in place (rotating)
- one complete turn around is equal to one earth day
- Earth then starts to move in a circle around the sun, while still rotating
- motion of moving around sun is called revolving
- it takes just over 365 days for the Earth to make the trek around the sun!
The lesson extensions here seem infinite...from frog life cycles to vernal equinox to seasons to cultures to multiplication and division! I could go on and on, but will instead wait for the next blog lesson!
Please share any ideas you have, things you've tried that worked well, websites that are great resources, etc.! The best ideas are born through collaboration!
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