The Eratosthenes
Project (1999)

Introduction Student Summaries Links Photo Gallery Return to Top Info on this page	Introduction Our goal was to recreate the calculating of the circumference of the Earth using only simple tools. The model for this activity is the calculation performed by a man named Eratosthenes, living in Alexandria, Egypt around the year 240 BC. We began our project by watching a short segment of the television series Cosmos where Dr. Carl Sagan presented an introduction to the work Eratosthenes did. The class then brain-stormed on how we could duplicate this activity without taking a field trip to Alexandria on the day of the summer solistice. Eratosthenes determined the Earth's circumference with a high-degree of accuracy over 2000 years ago using sticks and shadows (along with a healthy "zest for knowledge" using Dr. Sagan's phrasing). This measuring of the circumference of the planet Earth over two thousand years before humankind flew or viewed our planet from space is considered one of the great achievements of the ancient world. This project was undertaken as part of a city-wide "Inquiry Based Learning Project," part of a National Science Foundation Grant to the Springfield Public Schools. It is also serving as the "Academic Year / Inquiry Learning Project" for our instructor's (Mr. Whitney) master's degree program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Introduction Student Summaries Links Photo Gallery Return to Top Info on this page	Student Summaries The students researched the Eratosthenes' classic calculation, and you can read several of their summaries listed below. The work has been grouped into the following categories: Biographies of Eratosthenes The Procedure Used to Determine Circumference Analyzing the Data   Thanks go to Cartographic Images and Henry Davis Consulting for permission to use the above image.
Introduction Student Summaries Links Photo Gallery Return to Top Info on this page	Links The following are extremely useful links that we found: USNO Astronomical Astronomical Applications Dept (Data Services) Tutorial: Longitude & Latitude History of Mathematics (MacTutor)-Biography of Eratosthenes Earth and Moon Viewer Map of the World in Eratosthenes' time Middle School Noon Project An Eratosthenes Project Using the WWW Dave's Eratosthenes Page (Where we got our COOL background image) Sieve of Eratosthenes Mr. Whitney's Home Page  The image above is from Prof. Dennis Donovan's Eratosthenes webpage.
Introduction Student Summaries Links Photo Gallery Return to Top Info on this page	Photo Gallery Below you will find a link to our photo gallery. The images you will see were taken with a digital camera, provided by Dr. Deb Gendreau, coordinator of the NSF Grant and this city-wide "Inquiry Based Learning Project" for the Springfield Public Schools. These photos document the process we used to determine the sun's angle of elevation on Monday, March 8, 1999. This work was done in the school's parking lot. Unlike Eratosthenes, we did not have to take a field trip to Cyene in order to complete our estimation of the Earth's circumference. We were lucky to have an extremely clear day, and the angle of the sun's elevation that we determined was 43.2 degrees, which was within just 0.2 degrees of that measurement according to the United States Naval Observatory data. Go to Photo Gallery 1. To determine the sun's angle of elevation we used a "high tech" chair and yard stick to cast a shadow. 2. The shadow of our stick near noon. 3. A student marking the shadow. When the shadow reached its shortest length, we determined the sun was at its highest elevation. 4. Another photo of the recorded shadow lengths. By school policy we are not able to publish any of our students' names or pictures on the web.
Introduction Student Summaries Links Photo Gallery Return to Top Info on this page	For further information, please contact: Mr. Matthew Whitney High School of Commerce 415 State Street Springfield, MA 01105 or email me at mwhitney.massed@rcn.com These pages where updated and relocated to this URL on July 27, 2001. Visitors since May 2, 1999 Last Updated: December 20, 2001.