This photo was taken in Longyearbyen in Svalbard and was taken at 12.01 … in the morning. That’s one minute after midnight.

Image: Some rights reserved by 0000007

And here, in a similar part of the world at a similar time of year, you can see what happens to the sun – this video is speeded up over several days:

First Questions …

What time of year is it?

What do you think it is like living there at this time of year?

What is the Arctic Night and the Midnight Sun and why do they happen in Svalbard?

 

Your mission is to find out a) why it is like the picture /video above for as much as three months of the year, and also why places like Svalbard are in darkness for three months at a different time of the year. Here are some resources to help you:

A video on why we have day and night in the first place.

A video on seasons

Seasons Simulator

Another helpful animation

A short written summary of the reasons

Extra:

How does this pattern of day and night / light and darkness affect a place like Svalbard?

See or watch the two interviews with Knut Hanvold who explains what it is like to live in a place with some months without any sun, and some months without any night-time. Scroll down to the bottom

Source: http://www.discoveringthearctic.org.uk

In a group of two or three, create a short video or animation (no longer than 3 minutes long) to explain your answer to the question(s) above.