A twirling ballerina Rotation The Earth rotates on its axis (imaginary vertical line around which Earth spins) every 24 hours. It causes day and night. Revolution It takes the Earth 365.25 days (or rotations) to travel or revolve around the Sun once. This is called a year. Why do we have seasons? The key is that Planets are… The best planet ever! and… It’s… the… The Earth doesn’t sit perfectly straight up and down A “false” view of Earth rotating on its axis. This just isn’t right! Our Axis is TILTED! About 23.5 degrees A more accurate view… Notice the… Insolation It’s all about CONCENTRATION! Look at a ray of sunlight hitting the middle of the planet. The ray hits this part of the planet directly, giving it a lot of energy (HEAT!), and focusing this energy over a small area. Venus, lit by the Sun But at the north & south pole? Here comes a ray from the sun toward the south pole of Venus… the direct ray of light notice how much bigger an area the ray covers…this means it’s LESS concentrated! That same picture of Venus Angle of incidence… equator vs. poles North Pole Equator Earth South Pole Thus, Insolation is more intense near the equator compared to the poles. For this reason, it’s warmer near the equator than at the poles. Tilt of the Earth’s axis towards or away from the sun creates the seasons SUMMER (Northern Hemisphere) When the north pole tilts toward the sun, it gets more radiation – more warmth during the summer When the north pole tilts toward the sun, the south pole tilts away So when it’s summer in the north, it’s winter in the south WINTER (Southern Hemisphere) Tilt of the Earth’s axis towards or away from the sun creates the seasons When the north pole tilts away from the sun, it gets less Insolation – So it’s colder during the winter When the north pole tilts away from the sun, the south pole tilts toward it… When it’s winter in the north, it’s summer in the south WINTER (Northern Hemisphere) SUMMER (Southern Hemisphere) And the final piece to the puzzle? So, the TILT is a big part of it, and that the Earth revolves around the Sun! Identifying the Seasons Northern Hemisphere is Summer and Southern Hemisphere is Winter because the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun. Step 3: For each position Step 1: Draw of the Earth,imaginary identify the Step 2: lines Put ato “N” and “S”the to separate season for both the Northern Hemisphere is identify the hemispheres. Northern/Southern Northern Hemisphere Spring and Southern Hemispheres (not exact). andisthe Southern Hemisphere Fall. Neither Hemisphere WHY. Hemisphere is tiltedand directly towards the Sun. Northern Hemisphere is Winter and Southern Hemisphere is Summer because the Southern Hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun. Northern Hemisphere is Fall and Southern Hemisphere is Spring. Neither Hemisphere is tilted directly towards the Sun. Solstices Occur twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is oriented at its extremes. Tilted the farthest or closest Winter solstice is the shortest day of the year. In the Northern Hemisphere. It occurs on December 21 or 22 and marks the beginning of winter. The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year. It occurs on June 20 or 21 and marks the beginning of summer. Equinoxes A day lasts 12 hours and a night lasts 12 hours at all latitudes. Equinox literally means "equal day and night". Sunlight strikes the earth most directly at the equator. This occurs twice a year. So, In Summary… Fact 1: Round planets heat up wherever they get direct sunlight and are cooler at the tops and bottoms. Fact 2: The Earth’s axis is TILTED 23.5o. Fact 3: As Earth revolves around the Sun, the tilt causes different parts of it to receive more or less sunlight for a few months, causing the weather and daylight to change. Fact 4: The equinox marks the time when daylight and nighttime are approximately the same length, with solstice occurring on the longest and shortest days (in terms of sunlight). So it’s a combination of the TILTed axis and the revolution of the Earth around the sun. Activities for dry season? And wet season? Dry Season 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Wet Season 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.