Tic Tac Toe Review
Seasons and Moon Phases
Directions: You must complete one row across AND one column down. All of these are good review
activities, so it may be helpful to do more than one row or column!
1. Compare and contrast:
- seasons of winter and
summer for the northern
hemisphere
AND
-Solstice and equinox days
4. What season is it in
the Northern
Hemisphere according
to this image?:
1. Name it
2. Explain the length of
day and angle of the
Sun’s rays during this
season.
3. Explain what season
will come next.
7
Draw the orientation of the
Sun, Earth and Moon for each
of the following phases:
1. Full moon
2. Waxing Gibbous
3. Waning Gibbous
2. Draw a picture and give a
written explanation for why
we have seasons on Earth.
3. What type of moon is in
the picture below:
1. Name it
2. Draw the arrangement
of the Sun, Earth and
Moon for this phase.
3. Explain what the next
phase of the moon will
be.
5. Compare and Contrast
the full and first
quarter moon.
6. Draw and label a
diagram showing how
Earth orbits the Sun.
Label the four
positions for the Earth
at the beginning of
each season.
8. Describe how length
of day and the angle
of the Sun’s rays vary
throughout the year
for someone at 33o S
latitude.
9. Draw a picture and
give a written
explanation of
synchronous rotation.
1. Compare and contrast seasons of winter and summer in the NH:
Summer- NH tilted towards the sun, long days, sun is high in the sky and strikes at a more direct angle
Winter- NH tilted away from the sun, shorter days, sun is lower in the sky and strikes at an indirect angle
Compare and Contrast Solstice and Equinox days
Solstice- when the sun is the farthest north or south of the equator, start the seasons of winter and summer,
have the longest days on summer solstice, shortest day on the winter solstice
Equinox day- when the sun is directly overhead at the Equator, start the seasons of fall and spring, almost all
latitudes on Earth experience 12 hours of daylight
2. Draw a picture and explain why we experience seasons on Earth.
The Earth’s axis is tilted 23.5o toward the distant
star Polaris. As the Earth orbits the Sun, the hemisphere that is tilted toward the Sun changes. When the
hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, that hemisphere experiences summer. The angle of the Sun’s rays in the
sky is higher and the days are longer. When a hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun, it experiences winter.
The days are shorter and the angle of the Sun in the sky is lower.
3. Waning gibbous moon (see more than half of the disk of the moon illuminated on the left side).
The next phase would be a third (last) quarter moon.
4. In the picture the northern hemisphere would be experiencing winter. You know this because the NH is tilted
away from the Sun. The daylight hours would be short and the sun would be low in the sky. The angle of the
Sun’s rays would be low and indirect. The next season would be spring.
5. During the Full moon, the Earth/Moon/Sun are all in a line. The moon is on the opposite side of the Earth as the
Sun. From the Earth you see the entire disc of the moon illuminated.
During the First Quarter moon, the Earth/Moon/Sun are at right angles. An observer from Earth would see the
right half of the disc of the moon illuminated.
6.
7. See answer 3.
8. Someone at 33oS would experience the opposite seasons that we experience in the Northern Hemisphere.
During December-March they would have the sun high in the sky and have long days. During June-September
they would have the sun low in the sky and have shorter days.
9. Synchronous rotation describes the fact that the Moon orbits the Earth at the same rate that it revolves. Each
motion takes 27.3 days. This means that we only ever see one side of the moon from Earth.