Things I have learned While Teaching Elementary Science

The Date marking the Beginning of the Seasons is Cultural

Everyday our Kindergarten classes do a message book (think school agenda). There is a line where the students circle the season. Well come September the students were circling “Fall.” I was new and was taking over so I “let” them circle Fall. Then once the end of November hit I took over my other kindergarten class for message time. They had begun circling “Winter” with my Korean teaching partner but hadn’t been doing it for long. I said “no it is still ‘Fall’ ” and told them it wasn’t Winter’s “Birthday” till December 21. I did not go into the whole idea of the Earth orbiting the sun and the four equal points at which point we judge the Earth’s position-- when the sun is tilting the furthest from the sun it is winter (winter solstice)... closest it is summer (summer solstice) and the mid points are spring/fall equinox-- (equal think not much tilt action). We use this science to calculate the seasons and how many days are in each season. ‘We’, in North America, have an “Astronomical” opinion of when the “beginning” of the seasons are.
I talked to Roberta about this season dichotomy and she agreed with me and said that her Korean partner was doing it ‘wrong’ too. hmmmm “silly Koreans” we think.... then I was teaching science and reviewed my whole astronomical point of view while at the same time looking for things to do for “Lunar New Year” which for South East Asia is in February.... hmmmm so if their New Year is different then perhaps... their seasons are different. I decided to do some research. So it turns out Koreans aren’t “silly” the date for the beginning of the seasons is just “different.”
Eastern Asian (for sure Chinese/Korean), as well as, some Irish Cultures follow a “Traditional” vs “Astronomical” system. It turns out that in this Traditional view, the seasons begin at the cross-quarter days. The solstices and equinoxes are the midpoints of these seasons. Each month has different symbols that have to do with the weather patterns, work related to the season, or traditional animals. It is all very interesting but too much to summarize here... google it if your interested. :)
So, according to Traditional reckoning,
• Winter begins on 5-10 Nov, Samhain, 立冬
• Spring on 2-7 Feb, Imbolc, 立春
• Summer on 4-10 May, Beltane, 立夏
• Autumn on 3-10 Aug, Lughnasadh, 立秋
And, the middle of each season is considered,
• Mid-winter: 20-23 Dec, winter solstice, 冬至
• Mid-spring: 19-22 Mar, vernal equinox, 春分
• Mid-summer: 19-23 June, summer solstice, 夏至
• Mid-autumn: 21-24 Sept, autumnal equinox, 秋分
So of course Koreans aren’t “silly” they are just different. Yet those Aussies and Kiwis well they make me laugh because they take the easy/ laid back way out in everything.... Turns out they follow a third system the ‘Meteorological system’ to recognize their seasons. Wikipedia states that the Meteorological system is “reckoned by temperature, with summer being the hottest quarter of the year, and winter the coldest quarter of the year. Using this reckoning, the Ancient Roman calendar began the year and the spring season on the first of March, with each season occupying three months.”
So, in meteorology for the Northern hemisphere:
• spring begins on March 1,
• summer on June 1,
• autumn on September 1, and
• winter on December 1.
Conversely, for the Southern hemisphere:
• summer begins on December 1,
• autumn on March 1,
• winter on June 1, and
• spring on September 1.
So in Conclusion, Koreans are traditional, North American’s scientific, and the Aussies/Kiwis well they just step outside with their beer and if it becomes piss warm in 15 minutes then they conclude it’s summer and if it stays cool 45 minutes well of course it’s winter. Easy Peasy ;) hahahaha
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Season