Seasons
How much is the Earth tilted on its axis?
23 1/2 degrees
What is the date of the lowest sun angle?
December 21
What is the date that is the first day of summer in the Southern hemisphere?
December 21
What is the date that the sun is directly over the Tropic of Capricorn?
December 21
What is the date when the Earth is most tilted away from the sun?
December 21
What is the name for the kind of day when the sun is directly over the equator?
Equinox
What kind of day is it when you have equal daylight and darkness?
Equinox
True or False: It's hot in the summer because we're closer to the sun.
False
True or False: The Earth's orbit is a perfect circle.
False
What would happen to our seasons if the Earth's axis was not tilted?
If the Earth's axis was not tilted we would have one season. There would be 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness.
What woulld happen to our seasons if the Earth's axis were tilted a lot more?
If the Earth's axis were tilted more then we would be closer to the equator. The tilt would change the cause our summers to be much hotter and our winters would be colder.
What is the date of the highest sun angle?
June 21
What is the date that the Earth is tilted towards the sun?
June 21
What is the date that the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer?
June 21
Name one of the two dates when the Earth is not tilted towards or away from the sun?
March 21 and September 21
The two extremes of tilt and lenth of daylight are called_____________days.
Solstice
This season starts on the longest day of the year.
Summer
This season starts with the sun directly over the Tropic of Cancer.
Summer
What is the season that starts with the sun directly over the Tropic of Cancer?
Summer
What are the two seasons in which daylight is decreasing?
Summer and Fall
What are the two seasons in which the sun's angle is decreasing?
Summer and fall
Why are there more hours of darkness than daylight in the Northern hemisphere in winter?
The Northern hemisphere is tilted way from the sun. We spend more time on the dark side of the terminator.
Why are the seasons reversed between the Northern and Southern hemispheres?
The seasons are reversed because when one hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, the other is tilted away.
In the summer, the North pole gets 24 hours/day of sunlight. With all that sunlight, why isn't the North pole warm in the summer, causing all the ice to melt?
The sun is at a very low angle on the North pole so the light is very spread out and less concentrated. The light is less intense and weak.
Why is the sun higher in the sky in the summer than in the winter?
The sun is higher in the summer because the Northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun. The sun is at a higher angle of 72 degrees.
True or False: During winter in North America, the farther North you travel, the more darkness there is.
True
True or False: Middletown is almost half way between the equator and the North Pole.
True
True or False: On the equinox, the terminator runs exactly through the North and South poles.
True
True or False: The sun rises directly in the East and sets directly in the West only on an equinox?
True
True or False: The terminator is always perpendicular to the suns incoming rays.
True
Why does the Earth have seasons?
We have seasons because the Earth's axis is tilted to 23.5 degrees. When the Northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun it is higher in the sky. The sunlight is stronger and more concentrated. When the Northern hempishere is tilted away from the sun the light is at a lower angle and weaker. When the axis is neutral, we have 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness.
This season begins on the shortest day of the year.
Winter
This season starts with the sun directly over the Tropic of Capricorn.
Winter
What are the two seasons in which daylight is increasing?
Winter and Spring
What are the two seasons in which the sun's angle is increasing?
Winter and Spring
The equator splits the Earth into Northern and Southern what?
hemispheres
