Leap Day Is Next Week! Get Students Doing the Math with Resources from NASA

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Title: Doing the Math on Why We Have Leap Day

Doing the Math on Why We Have Leap Day

You may have noticed that there's an extra day on your calendar this year. That's not a typo; it's leap day! Leap day is another name for Feb. 29, a date that typically comes around every four years, during a leap year. Why doesn't Feb. 29 appear on the calendar every year?

Read our primer on leap day to find out how the imperfect match between the length of a calendar year and Earth's orbit results in the need to make small adjustments to our calendar on a regular basis. Then, get students doing the math with our leap day math problem set and resources from NASA's Space Place.

Read the Blog

Related Lessons and Resources

	Lesson: Leap Day Math (Grades 5-8) – In this problem set, students calculate the difference between the calendar year and Earth's orbital period, determine how much extra time gets added to our calendar and identify which years omit leap years.
	Lesson Collection: Solar System Scale Models (Grades 1-12) – Explore a collection of standards-aligned lessons all about the size and scale of our solar system.
	Check out these related resources for kids from NASA’s Space Place: › Article: What is a Leap Year? › Article: How Long Is a Year on Other Planets?