Resource of the Week
By Shirl Kennedy, Deputy Editor
It's getting to be that time of the year again here in most of the U.S. We'll be turning our clocks back one hour, on the last Sunday in October, which marks the end of Daylight Saving Time...until April 2, 2006, the first Sunday in April, when we set our clocks ahead one hour for another DST go-around. What the heck is this all about, anyhow? How did it start? Is it done in other countries? Check out this week's resource and become a fount of information about Daylight Saving Time.
Dayline Saving Time (DST)
Source: Web Exhibits (Institute for Dynamic Educational Advancement) Daylight Saving Time
"The main purpose of Daylight Saving Time (called 'Summer Time' many places in the world) is to make better use of daylight. We change our clocks during the summer months to move an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening. Countries have different change dates." You probably already knew this, but maybe you didn't know...
+ This past August 5, President G.W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (PDF; 2.6 MB) which -- among its many other provisions -- moves up the start of DST to the second Sunday of March, and pushes the ending back the first Sunday of November. The Secretary of Energy will report to Congress regarding the impact of this on energy savings, and Congress reserves the right to revert back to the previous schedule.
+ "In the European Union, Summer Time begins and ends at 1 am Universal Time (Greenwich Mean Time). It starts the last Sunday in March, and ends the last Sunday in October." Unlike in the United States, where each time zone switches over at a different time, all the EU time zones change simultaneously. Some counties -- mostly equatorial and tropical -- do not observe DST because the daylight hours are pretty much the same year round in the lower latitudes. But most other countries do, to one extent or another.
+ Benjamin Franklin is generally credited with the idea of DST in "a discourse on the thrift of natural versus artificial lighting," published as a letter to the authors of the Journal of Paris in 1784.
+ "Daylight Saving Time has been used in the United States and in many European countries since World War I." The Uniform Time Act of 1966 (15 U.S. Code Section 260a), signed into law by President L.B. Johnson, set the beginning of DST on the last Sunday of April and the end on the last Sunday of October.
"The Institute for Dynamic Educational Advancement (IDEA) is committed to enriching and informing lives through public service projects and the subsequent application of innovative, learning-based technologies." The WebExhibits site features an eclectic mix of science-oriented online exhibits such as Calendars Through the Ages, Causes of Colors, and Butter (which explores "the history and making of butter)." One presentation takes a look at Scientific Integrity in Policymaking; another examines Bogus Science, and presents you with seven warning signs.
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