On April 29th, teachers of the Transcarpathian Regional Ecological and Naturalistic Center for Students Youth held a meaningful ecological event dedicated to International Sun Day for IDP children and readers of the TRENCSY. Oksana Strichko, Methodist of the Department of Ecology and Environmental Protection, acquainted the children with interesting facts about the Sun. The sun is the closest star to the Earth and all the others are located at a greater distance from our planet. The earth is spinning around the sun. The Sun is a powerful source of cosmic energy for the earth. It provides light and heat necessary for flora and fauna and forms the most important properties of the Earth’s atmosphere.
In general, the Sun determines the very existence of the planet. There would be no air necessary for life without the Sun: it would turn into a liquid nitrogen ocean around the frozen waters and icy land. The most important feature of the Sun is that our planet arose near it and life appeared on it. Thanks to the sunlight that falls on the retina of our eyes, the body produces a natural antidepressant – melatonin, which provides us with a good night’s sleep. It’s no secret that sunlight also produces the hormone of happiness, so do not be lazy to take a walk on a sunny day!
The sun, as well as wind, sea waves, and biomass, are energy raw materials that constantly surround us and are easy to use. It doesn’t need to be extracted from the ground. It doesn’t lead to the formation of radioactive waste and toxic at all. This is renewable energy. For example, Sun Day was initiated in order to draw attention to the possibilities of using renewable energy sources in 1994.
Polina and Alina, young environmentalists from Dnipro and Kyiv, noted that despite the prospects and relevance of solar panels as an alternative energy source, people still haven’t thought about how to dispose of them. After all, the components of solar panels in the end also pollute the environment!
The presentation was interesting and instructive prepared by Olga Velychkanych, Head of the Department of Biology and Research and Experimental work. It is known that people have worshiped the Sun as a deity and arranged in his honor holidays during a long period of time: the Day of the Summer Solstice and the Day of the Spring Equinox. Spells, songs, and games were written in honor of the Sun. The cult of the Sun was present in the religions of the civilizations of the Incas, Egyptians, and Aztecs. Many ancient monuments are associated with the Sun, including megaliths, the largest and most famous of which is the megalith in Stonehenge, England.
The children were very impressed by the information about the coefficient of the size among such planets like the Sun, Jupiter, and the small planet Earth. Gravity on the surface of the Sun is 28 times greater than on Earth. A person who weighs 60 kg on Earth will weigh 1680 kg in the Sun. That is about like a car. After performing simple mathematical calculations, our future researcher Bogdanchyk found out that the car on the star itself would weigh about 42 tons!
The children also played the game “Put together the right proverbs”, guessed riddles, and told interesting facts that they know about the Sun and its significance for all living things. They also reminded us about the rules of sunbathing, which are currently relevant as summer is coming! Children made fun suns that will remind them of a fun and meaningful time at the end of the class!
The event was held in cooperation with the Transcarpathian Regional Ecological and Naturalistic Center of Students Youth with the Institute of Ecological and Religious Studies – IERS (headed by Alexander Bokotey) with the support of the German Nature Conservation Union (#NABU), project coordinator Ivan Tymofeiev.
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Informational Service of IERS