This website provides the data for students to follow the spring migrations of many different animals, including the gray whale that migrates from California to Alaska. It also provides an exciting “Mystery Class” project where students track the changing photoperiod of sunlight and seasons from January to April and try to identify the location of the 10 mystery classes based on the amount of sunlight they receive each week. Teachers are required to register their classes to take part in the project, but the registration is free.
Activity: Students receive sunrise and sunset times for their mystery classes each week and graph the information. On the spring equinox they discover the longitude of their mystery classes by comparing their information to Greenwich, England. Through interdisciplinary clues, they narrow down their choices until they make their final determination of the locations in late April. The identification of the 10 mystery classes is revealed in May, and the winning schools are announced.
Link.