Starter quiz
- When it is winter in northern Europe, what season is it in South Africa?
- winter
- summer ✓
- spring
- autumn
-
- What angle is Earth titled at compared with the plane of its orbit?
- 23.5 degrees ✓
- 45 degrees
- it is not tilted = 0 degrees
- 90 degrees
-
- Which season has the longest days?
- summer ✓
- winter
- autumn
- spring
-
- What place on Earth experiences 24 hours of daylight on 25th December?
- the Bermuda Triangle
- the North Pole
- the Equator
- the South Pole ✓
-
- Which places on Earth get the most light from the Sun?
- places near the South Pole
- places near the North Pole
- places on the Equator ✓
- places that are in the middle of deserts
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- A child living in York is writing out their address for an alien. Put the places in correct order, starting with the city.
- 1⇔York
- 2⇔United Kingdom
- 3⇔Europe
- 4⇔Northern hemisphere
- 5⇔Earth
- 6⇔Solar system
- 7⇔Milky Way
Exit quiz
The dashed blue line in the picture represents Earth's tilted ______ of rotation.- direction
- equator
- spin
- axis ✓
-
- In countries that have summers and winters, the seasons change because Earth’s tilted axis does not change ______ as Earth orbits the Sun.
- 'direction' ✓
- Which image best represents Earth's orbit of the Sun?
Which statement about places at the equator is true?- Places at the equator have warmer and colder seasons (summers and winters).
- Places at the equator stay close to being face-on to the Sun all year. ✓
- The equator has summer in between when the northern and southern hemispheres do.
- The Sun's rays are always more spread out at the equator, than at Earth's poles.
-
Which month is represented in this image, and why? The pink lines are the paths of the UK and southern Chile as Earth spins. The yellow arrows are the Sun's rays.- It is June because the nothern hemisphere has summer.
- It is June because the southern hemisphere has summer.
- It is December because the southern hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun.
- It is December because the southern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun. ✓
-
- Which of the statements help to explain seasons on Earth?
- Different places become more and less 'face on' to the Sun over a year. ✓
- A place makes different angles to the Sun's rays over a year. ✓
- Earth's tilt does not change direction as Earth orbits the Sun. ✓
- The Sun's rays become more and less spread out over the ground over a year. ✓
- Earth's tilt makes places closer and further from the Sun over a year.
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Worksheet
Presentation
Video
Lesson Details
Key learning points
- The seasons change because of Earth’s tilted axis, which does not change direction as Earth orbits the Sun.
- In June, the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun so has summer, and the southern hemisphere has winter.
- In December, the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun so has winter, and the southern hemisphere has summer.
- The seasons that occur at a place on Earth can be explained by the different angles made to the sun's rays over a year.
- Countries near the Equator do not experience summers and winters as they stay close to ‘face-on’ to the Sun all year.
Common misconception
The seasons are caused by Earth moving closer or further from the Sun, the Sun being hotter or colder, or Earth's tilt changing as it orbits the Sun.
Remind pupils that the Sun's output is constant and also that there is strong evidence for Earth's orbit of the Sun being almost a perfect circle. Seasonal change happens because the direction of Earth's tilt doesn't change as it orbits the Sun.
Keywords
Summer - Summer is the warmest season, when the Sun is highest in the sky and there are more hours of daylight.
Winter - Winter is the coldest season, when the Sun is lowest in the sky and there are fewer hours of daylight.
Hemisphere - A hemisphere is half a sphere.
Tilt - Something is tilted if it is at an angle to the horizontal or vertical.
Orbit - An orbit is the path one object takes around another object.