![]() Now, that year the vernal equinox was especially interesting for my students. (Our custodian did not work nights and had not been in my room yet). The surprise? The egg was still standing when I invited the students into class to begin the next day. I looked at the egg - still standing, before I left for home late that afternoon. Two years ago, I stood the egg on end at 8:00 AM and it stood all day. There are so few things in school these days that seem to grab students' attention and turn on their imaginations, this is one of those great moments that just might do the trick. I have successfully achieved this spectacle for my students for about 20 years now, and amazed my own children at home during their very young years. It is a perfect opportunity to explore the vocabulary relationship between equinox and equal, and the role of gravity in our solar system. I appreciate the "Fact" that you can stand an egg on end "anytime," but as an elementary teacher, I love standing an egg on end and do that twice a year in my classroom - on the equinox days. Does it feel like spring in your part of the world right now? Even if Old Man Winter is still hanging around, you can still get excited about the warmer weather to come with these crafts inspired by spring flowers:.Have fun dreaming of the never-ending summer! Find a map of the world and plot out the places you'd go and when you'd go there, keeping in mind the dates of the equinoxes and what seasons these dates signal in different hemispheres. Your goal is to always be living, visiting or staying in a place where it's spring or summer. You don't mind spring and you love summer. You want to never see Old Man Winter again. You have a gazillion dollars in your bank account and you can do what you want, when you want, where you want. Up for a challenge? Let's say you just hit the lottery.Take it slow and you'll do fine! How many eggs can you balance? If you're feeling eggs-tra inspired, try one of these egg-ceptional craft ideas: ![]() Make sure you get your parents' permission before giving egg-balancing a whirl on your kitchen counters. If you're more fascinated by the thought of balancing eggs on end, give it a try.Spring forward to find a few friends you can always fall back on! Ask them to help you explore one or more of the following fun activities: Given that day and night are balanced at the time of the vernal equinox, it's possible that the Chinese chose a balanced egg as a symbolic representation of this astronomical phenomenon. No one knows for sure, but some believe the Chinese may have started the practice of balancing eggs on end during the vernal equinox. You might be wondering how such an interesting and widespread legend got started. There's nothing magical about the vernal equinox that makes it any easier to balance an egg on end. It just takes a lot of patience and determination. So is there any truth to this popular legend? Nope! It's actually possible to balance eggs on end on any day of the year. According to legend, the special astronomical properties of the vernal equinox make it possible to balance eggs on end. If you keep your eyes and ears open around the time of the vernal equinox, you're likely to hear or see people talking about a magical phenomenon that only occurs on that day. In Christianity, the vernal equinox is significant, because Easter always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. Early Egyptians even built the Great Sphinx so that it points directly toward the rising Sun on the day of the vernal equinox. For ancient cultures, the vernal equinox signaled that their food supplies would soon return. People have celebrated the vernal equinox for centuries. Thus, in the Southern Hemisphere, the March equinox is called the autumnal equinox, and the September equinox is called the vernal equinox. When the Northern Hemisphere starts to tilt toward the sun in spring, the Southern Hemisphere starts to tilt away from the sun, signaling the start of fall. The September equinox is called the autumnal equinox, because it marks the first day of fall (autumn). In the Northern Hemisphere, the March equinox is called the vernal equinox, because it signals the beginning of spring ( vernal means fresh or new like the spring). The March equinox marks when the Northern Hemisphere starts to tilt toward the sun, which means longer, sunnier days. Equinox literally means “ equal night," since the length of day and night is nearly equal in all parts of the world during the equinoxes. These moments - called equinoxes - occur around March 20 or 21 and September 22 or 23. As Earth revolves around the Sun, there are two moments each year when the Sun is exactly above the equator. ![]()
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