Science
How many days are in a year?
365
People in ancient Sumeria and Mesopotamia added extra time to their calendar every 4 years, just like a Leap Year, but it wasn't a day. What did they use instead: a minute, an hour, a week, or a month?
A month...a Leap Month! :-D
What makes a Leap Year different from a regular year?
A Leap Year has one more day than a regular year.
There are 2 main types of calendars.
Solar Calendars follow a certain star.
Lunar calendars follow something we see in the sky at night.
What are the two things that each calendar follows?
Sun (solar) and Moon (lunar).
Some Leap Years have more than one extra day.
False
What causes a year to happen? What determines how long a year is?
Hint: These questions have the same answer!
Double hint: It has to do with the solar system!
The length of time it takes for a planet to go around the sun causes a year to happen and determines how long the year is.
In which year did ancient civilizations start to create calendars that worked well with changing seasons?
Hint: single digit!
The third century BC
How often does Leap Year happen?
Once every four years...
...except for century years that can't be divided by 400!
For example, 2000 was a leap year (2000 / 400 = 5) but the year 1000 wasn't (1000 / 400 = 2.5).
Of the two main types of calendars, there is one whose holidays take place in different seasons every year. Which one is this?
Lunar Calendar
It takes exactly 365 days for the earth to orbit the sun.
False
It takes the earth exactly 365.242 days to orbit the sun.
How many days does it take for the earth to orbit the sun?
365.242 days
Which historical calendar worked the worst?
Hint: it was from an ancient European culture.
The ancient Roman calendar.
It had 355 days. To make it line up with seasons, Roman priests added extra months as they saw fit.
It became less and less out of sync with the seasons as time went on.
On which day does Leap Year always fall?
Name the MONTH and the DAY.
February 29th
There is a calendar used by Middle Eastern Countries that is named after a major world religion.
It has 354 or 355 days per year, 12 months with 29 or 30 days each, and the seasons start in different months each year.
Islamic Calendar
On non-leap years, people who were born on a leap year can celebrate their birthdays on different days.
True.
These people usually celebrate on February 28th or March 1st on non-leap years.
Is the length of one year always the same?
For each planet, YES!
For compared to other planets, NO!
For example, Uranus' year is a little more than 84 Earth years...that's roughly one human lifespan!
Who came up with the idea of adding an extra day, or Leap Day, to the calendar?
Hint: It was a famous ruler of an ancient country.
Julius Caesar!
In 46 BC, he added 1 day every 4 years to the Roman calendar, and the calendar year lined up better with the seasons.
Guess the average number of days in a lunar month.
What about a lunar year?
Extra points if you get both right!
Lunar month: 29.5 days
Lunar year: 254 days
Two other calendar types are named after famous world religions.
See if you can name at least one.
Hindu and Jewish
People born on leap years have much younger ages than their peers since their birthdays only come once every four years!
BOTH!
People born on Leap Year have lower age numbers since their birthday only comes once every four years. However, the age the same way as anyone else, so they often use the age of their peers.
The Gregorian Calendar, used in the USA and other countries, is only off by 30 seconds. This means that, every year, the calendar falls all little behind Earth's real orbit time. How many years do you think it will take before the Gregorian Calendar is one day behind schedule?
3,333 years!
To make the calendar we know today, a famous religious leader changed how often Leap Year happened.
What was his title? BONUS: Extra points if you guess his name!
Title: Pope
Name: Pope Gregory XIII
In 1582, he removed Leap Days from century years that couldn't be divided by 400. It made the calendar line up better with Earth's orbit time. The calendar's name is the Gregorian Calendar.
Can a 12-year-old have a 20-year-old grandparent if the grandparent was born on a Leap Year?
Yes!
The grandparent would technically be 80 years old, but would have only 20 Leap Year birthdays.
The person who made this jeopardy lab had a friend in middle school with a 20 year old great-grandmother!
What is the name of the calendar that most countries use?
The Gregorian Calendar
If we didn't have Leap Years, seasons would start in different months every year...Can you imagine celebrating your birthday in summer one year and winter the next?
True!
Without a Leap Year, seasons would start 1/4 of a day later each year...then, in time, the seasons would start at different times as the years went on!