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Daylight Detectives · time has a shape

Daylight Detectives

Compare two solstice skies, find the biggest change, and solve a mystery with daylight hours.

Ages 6–12 · together or alone 10–15 minutes

The Sun does not give every place the same-sized day. Compare the two solstices, notice the pattern, and use the numbers to tell a story about where each place sits on Earth.

Start here

Compare four skies

The same two dates look different in different places. Read the summer and winter lengths, then look for the pattern.

Canada

Toronto

Two solstices
June
15 h 30 m
December
8 h 59 m

A long northern summer day becomes a much shorter winter day.

Kenya

Nairobi

Two solstices
June
12 h 05 m
December
12 h 14 m

Near the equator, the two solstice days stay close in length.

Norway

Oslo

Two solstices
June
18 h 57 m
December
6 h 01 m

Far north, the difference between the two seasons is dramatic.

Argentina

Ushuaia

Two solstices
June
7 h 17 m
December
17 h 25 m

In the southern hemisphere, the seasonal pattern flips.

Daylight durations were harvested on 2026-08-25 for the June and December 2026 solstices and rounded to the nearest minute. Source ↗

The trail

Four ways in

4 missions
  1. 1

    Spot

    Spot the longest day

    Read the four summer daylight lengths and put them in order. The largest number is only the beginning of the clue.

    Which place gives you the most daylight, and how much more is that than the shortest summer day?

    Find the difference
  2. 2

    Flip

    Catch the seasonal flip

    Compare each place's June and December values. One city gets longer while another gets shorter.

    What does Ushuaia's pair of numbers tell you about the season below the equator?

    Read the clock faces
  3. 3

    Map

    Place the sky on a map

    Use the city names as a route across the world. The numbers become easier to remember when they have a place to live.

    Which stop would you visit first if you wanted to see the biggest change in daylight?

    Plot a route
  4. 4

    Story

    Write the evening report

    Turn one pair of numbers into a tiny report from the solstice: when the light arrived, when it left, and what someone did with the extra time.

    What could a child do with one extra hour of daylight? Make the answer specific.

    Print the daylight log
Play with time Print the daylight log All missions