Study Guide Natural Cycles
Test will be
Sequence/Cycle
A series of events that occur in a natural order. The seasons follow a
sequence and repeat.
Examples of Natural
Cycles
Day and Night, Seasons, Tides, Moon Phases, Water cycle, Plant life and
Animal life
Plant cycle
The changes that occur from seed to plant.
Animal life cycle
The changes that occur from birth thru adulthood.
Seasonal Cycle
Repeated pattern the Earth goes through – Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall
- caused by the tilt of the Earth’s axis towards the
sun or away from the sun.
Orbit
The path an object takes as it moves around another object in space.
Rotation
The spinning of an object on its axis. The Earth rotates on its
axis, which causes day and night. The Earth rotates on its axis once every
24 hours.
Revolution
The movement of an object around another. The Earth
revolves around the Sun. This revolution takes 365 days or
1 year.
The moon revolves around the Earth. This takes 29 days.
Axis
An imaginary line that goes through the North Pole and the
South Pole of Earth.
Tilt
The Earth's lean or slant on the axis.
Phase
The different shapes the moon seems to have in the sky when observed from
Earth.
New Moon
1st Quarter moon
Full moon
3rd/Last quarter moon
Phases of the Moon
- 29 days to
complete the cycle
Gravitational Force Gravity
The force that keeps us from floating off the ground into space. A powerful
pulling force between objects.
Tides
The rising and falling of water levels of oceans, bays, gulfs, and parts of
many rivers, caused by gravity between the Earth and the moon.
High Tide
Occurs when the moon is over land. The moon’s gravity pulls the ocean’s
water towards the land, and the water comes up onto the shore.
The moon is over the ocean. The moon’s gravity pulls the ocean’s water
away from the land, and the water moves towards the middle of the ocean
and away from the shore.
Low Tide
Climate
Important Facts to
Know
The weather conditions in a certain area over a long period. Warm or cold
climate. Wet or dry climate.
 The earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours causing day and
night.
 The earth revolves around the sun once every 365 days causing
seasons.
 The moon’s gravity causes tides.
 The moon reflects light from the sun. It does not give off light of
its own.
*Be able to draw the phases of the moon—new moon, first quarter, full moon, and last
quarter.
New Moon
1st Quarter
Full Moon
3rd Quarter