In this experiment we were trying to find out how latitude affects temperature and daily sunlight. We thought that locations closest to the equator would be the warmest because there are no seasons around the equator, it is always hot.

Our hypothesis on temperature was wrong. Our graph showed that the highest average temperatures formed a cluster around the latitudes nearer the equator, but the average daily temperature of the 6 locations between -27°S and 29°N was 27°C, higher than almost all other locations except the 6 locations between 32°N and 36°N which had an an average of 28°C.

Our hypothesis on daylight was right. We thought the Northern Hemisphere would be receiving more sunlight because it is tilting more toward the sun as we approach the solstice (longest day). The graph showed a steady rise in average sunlight from the most southern location, -38°S (605 minutes=10 hours, 5 minutes) to the farthest north location at 58°N ( 974 minutes= 16 hours, 14 minutes).

We were surprised to find out how much longer the days are in the far north than they are even for us at 36°N (847 minutes= 14 hours, 7 minutes). We also were surprised that not all the data seemed to fit the pattern. We think that might be because probably not everyone used the same sources of information to find daily minutes of sunlight (we used the sunrise/sunset times from the U.S. Naval Observatory web site). Also there could have been errors in calculations. There are also a lot more factors besides latitude which can affect temperature, so that was likely to be less predictable that daylight.

We really had fun doing this project. We loved reading the letters of introduction from all the different schools that participated, and graphing the data. We learned a lot of things, like how the seasons change and why the days get longer in summer. We want to do the project again in the fall so we can compare the results.