"The summer night is like a perfection of thought" - Wallace Stevens.

Delayed bloggin of late! Apologies but school's been a bit hectic at the end of term!

So summer has arrived, and yesterday was summer solstice so I thought about a lesson that could incorporate this ancient tradition and the end of term.

Firstly, you need to elicit the meaning of Solstice from the students (maybe hinting that it comes from Latin). Then you can explain to them the root of the word:
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4807555635768398200

Sol = sun
Stice = to stand still

From this, see if they can figure out why the first day of summer is thus known in groups.(As the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher until it seems to stand still in the sky). The groups then present their ideas to the class and see who is closest to the truth!

Then, send the students on an information quest on different computers to compare view points.
One groups finds out about the astrological aspects by visiting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_solstice
Group two finds out about the pagan origins by visiting http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/holydays/summersolstice.shtml
Group three learns about religions and their adaptation on the solstice by visiting http://www.religioustolerance.org/summer_solstice.htm

The groups then explain what they learned to each other - giving the different view points.

Finally, the whole class develops their own interpretation of the solstice, a "Modern Day Solstice".