June Weekend Part III
What are you doing tonight, readers, in honor of the summer solstice? How about checking out a free summer solstice celebration night at the Harvard Museum of Science and Culture (see website here: https://hmnh.harvard.edu/event/summer-solstice). What does one do at a summer solstice celebration? Apparently there are summer-inspired craft projects, such as make your own flower crowns, a variety of performances, and discussions about the significance of the solstice. That sounds like fun.
What does science say about the summer solstice?
(1) It is the day of the year with the most sunlight, and also with the most twilight hours.
(2) During the summer solstice, the North Pole has 24 hours of sun, and the South Pole has zero.
(3) The scientific definition of a solstice is when the tilt of the Earth’s axis is directly pointed towards the sun, which is what causes us to have the most sunlight on that day.
What about the rest of the weekend? Summer time for me means lots of outdoor concerts and performances, especially when they are free, and this weekend, there are lots of them to choose from. Check out the summer picnic concert at 4 pm Saturday in North Andover: https://www.thebostoncalendar.com/events/summer-picnic-concert; or the live music at the Boston Harbor Hotel Rowes Wharf: https://www.thebostoncalendar.com/events/summer-in-the-city-live-music-and-movies-by-moonlight. Science says that music is SO. GOOD. for children’s brains, and really for adult brains as well, so start listening and appreciating.
For some links to scientific articles on the topic of music and children’s cognitive development, see here: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED442707; here: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2307/3345779; or here: https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1196/annals.1360.015.
Happy weekend, readers! Enjoy!
