Teaching About Leap Year 2008
Classroom Activities to Explain the Extra Day in February
Leap year activities to engage students to learn why we have a leap year.
What is Leap Year?
A year that has 29 days in February instead of 28. Leap year was introduced to align the earth's rotation around the sun with the seasons. It takes approximately 356.2422 days for the earth to travel around the sun in one year. Since the earth does not rotate in exactly 365 days, leap year was proposed to align the seasons with the months. Approximately, every four years, the Gregorian calendar is given one extra day to account for the additional time the earth requires to travel around the sun.
When is Leap Year?
The year 2008, is a leap year. It occurs every four years with a few exceptions every few hundred years. Leap year 2008 commences on Friday and ends on Friday.
Leap Year Science Lesson
Best way to start this science is with a question, to get students talking. Ask:
- What is a season? How does the seasons relate to leap year?
- What is a Gregorian calendar? Teacher talks about the introduction of the Gregorian calendar and other calendars from the past and present.
- How long is 365.2422 days? (365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 46 seconds)
- How many days in a leap year? (366 days)
Leap Year Math Lesson
What month in 2008, begins on a Friday and ends on a Friday. Explain your findings and why does this occur?
What month in the past 10 years begins on a Friday and ends on a Friday. Explain your findings and why does this occur? (Most calendars, will show previous years, photocopy the months for the past 10 years or allow students to record the information from the Internet)
How do you calculate a leap year? According to the Gregorian calendar, there are 3 rules to calculate if it is leap year or not a leap year.
Rule 1: Leap year is divisible by 4
Rule 2: Exception to Rule 1, any year divisible by 100 such as 1900 or 1800
Rule 3: Exception to Rule 2, any year divisible by 400 is a leap year such as 2000
Give students different dates and they must prove if the year is a leap year based on the 3 rules. Students must show all mathematical calculations.
Leap Year Calculations
Calculate the actual age of a person who is 5 leap years?
Calculate the leap age of a person who is 60 years old?
Was a child born on February 29, 1933? Explain your answer.
Leap Year Traditions
According to history books a Leap Year tradition began in the 5th century in Ireland. St. Bridget petitioned St. Patrick for all women to be able to propose to a man. In earlier times, there were strict courtship laws and women were not allowed to propose to men. Every February 29th, women were allowed to ask for a man in marriage. A man was fined if he refused the proposal.
Leap Year Tradition Lesson Ideas
- Students journal their feelings and thoughts about the tradition. Sample Question: Do they believe the men should have to marry the women? why or why not?
- Students write compare courtship rules of the present with courtship rules of the past. Students may compare 1950 with 2008 or the 5th century with 2008.
- Students compare courtship rules of Canadian/Americans with people from India or Africa.
- Students compare courtship rules of their parents and grandparents
