Parents can teach their children about leap year and a little bit of math too!
What is a leap year, and why do we need one?
A leap year is a year that has a longer February than normal. In a leap year, February has 29 days in it instead of 28. Leap year began in order to align the earth’s rotation around the sun with our seasons. It takes approximately 365.2422 days for the earth to travel around the sun in one year. We know that a typical year has 365 days in it—but as you can see from the number 365.2422, a year is not exactly 365 days! So, in order to get “lined up”, almost every four years, we give one extra day to account for the additional time the earth takes to travel around the sun.
When is Leap Year?
This year, 2012, is a Leap Year. It occurs every 4 years on February 29th– a day that only occurs in a Leap Year.
Math questions:
-How long is 365.2444 days?
Answer: 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes 46 seconds
-How do you calculate a leap year? According to the Gregorian calendar, there are 3 rules to calculate if it is leap year or not a leap year.
Rule 1: Leap year is divisible by 4
Rule 2: Exception to Rule 1, any year divisible by 100 such as 1900 or 1800
Rule 3: Exception to Rule 2, any year divisible by 400 is a leap year such as 2000
-How many leap years old am I, my sister, my brother?
-How many leap years old is Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Aunt, Uncle?
-How many leap years old is my school, state, America?
R.R.Cratty
Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November;
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting February alone,
And that has twenty-eight days clear,
And twenty-nine in each leap year.
—Mother Goose
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