Question
Big Ideas Learned
What is responsible for the length of
one day on Earth? What is responsible
for the length one year on Earth?
A day is one rotation of Earth on its axis. ~ 24 hours
Compare a day and year on Earth,
Mercury, and Jupiter. Explain your
thinking.
Planets rotate on their axis at different rates; days are different
lengths. (some gas planets, some rock planets)
A year is one revolution of Earth around the sun. ~365.25 days
Planets closer to the sun take a shorter time to make a
revolution, causing a shorter year.
What is a leap year and how does it
relate to a regular year? Why is the
leap year a part of our calendar?
Earth’s year, one revolution around the sun, is actually about
365.25 days. Every 4 years we add a day to make up for the .25
days extra each year.
How old would a 7th grader (about 13
years) be on other planets in our solar
system? Explain your thinking.
Planets closer to the sun take a shorter time to make a
revolution, causing a shorter year.
Planets farther away from the sun take longer to make a
revolution around the sun, causing a longer year.
Considering the motion of the earth,
how far do you travel in an earth day?
Remember, you are not at the equator.
How far do you travel in an earth year?
We travel rotationally each day x 365 days in a year.
We also travel a revolution around the sun.
Add those totals for distance.
Question
Big Ideas Learned
What happens to Earth’s axis of
rotation as Earth orbits the Sun? How
does this affect seasons.
Earth’s axis remains tilted at 23.5 degrees.
When the N hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, it receives
more direct sunlight than the S hemisphere; we have summer.
When the N hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, it receives
less direct sunlight than the S hemisphere; we have winter.
If you wanted to enjoy longer periods
of daylight in the summertime, would
you head closer to the equator or
farther from it? Why? How about
longer periods of sunlight in the
winter? Explain.
Summer (in the N hemisphere) – longer days – toward N pole –
the pole is tipped toward the sun. At one day in summer it has
constant daylight – summer solstice.
If Earth’s axis were tilted so much that
the North Pole sometimes pointed
straight at the sun, how would the
hours of daylight be affected at your
location? How about at the poles?
Would it be the same for each season?
In N hemisphere:
Summer – near constant daylight, would be warmer, N pole
melting.
Spring / Fall – similar to what it is now
Winter – near constant night, would be colder, more freezing
How do the average temperatures and
the seasonal changes at the equator
differ from those at the poles? In other
words, how does their summer
compare to their winter and other
seasons? Why? Remember to consider
all the seasons.
Near poles – large difference between summer and winter
temps because of tilt and increasing/decreasing amount of
direct sunlight.
If Earth stayed exactly the same
distance from the sun throughout the
year, would the seasons be different?
Explain what you think would happen.
What would the long-term affects be?
Seasons would be basically the same because there would still
be a tilt.
Winter (in the N hemisphere) – longer days – toward equator.
Near equator – summer and winter are basically the same since
the equator receives direct sunlight constantly.
Temps would change a tiny bit because of changes in distance
from sun.