Day and night, the year, and why we have seasons
Grade 6 Science Worksheet - Challenge Me
Circle the best answer.
Early January about 147 million km; early July about 152 million km. Esme's friend says summer happens because Earth gets closer to the Sun. Which response is best?
- Agree: both hemispheres get closer, so both get summer
- Agree: closer means hotter, so summer comes then
- Disagree: the axis flips toward the Sun each summer
- Disagree: Earth is closest in January, in northern winter
A video claims low winter sunlight is stronger because it arrives at a slant. Jun checks the claim. Which response is best?
- Disagree: winter comes because Earth is farther away
- Agree: low sunlight packs more energy into each spot
- Disagree: slanted light spreads, so each spot gets less
- Disagree: daylight is 12 hours, so angle cannot matter
World map with Texas and New Zealand marked, and the equator drawn as a dashed line. Kira's pen pal in New Zealand says it is fall there in late March. Kira lives in Texas, where it is spring. Which response is best?
- Disagree: both hemispheres have spring together
- Agree: the axis has flipped south for March
- Agree: the two hemispheres have opposite seasons
- Disagree: New Zealand is nearer the Sun, so it is spring
“Orbit diagram, top view, not to scale:” Suppose Earth's axis had no tilt at all. What would Luz's town in Ohio get all year long?
- The same seasons, since the axis tips anyway
- Strong seasons from distance alone
- Days near 12 hours and no strong seasons
- Summer weather, since the Sun stays high
Suppose Earth kept its tilt but its orbit were a perfect circle. Would Noah still have seasons?
- Yes, because the tilt still changes the sunlight
- Yes, but both halves would have summer together
- No, since the axis would stop tipping back and forth
- No, since the distance would stay the same
Read this first
Use the table
City June and December hours of daylight Phoenix Arizona (33°N) June about 14 December about 10 Sydney Australia (34°S) June about 10 December about 14 Pia compares daylight in Phoenix and Sydney. Why are their longest days about six months apart?
- Sydney is closer to the Sun in December
- Earth's axis switches direction twice a year
- The cities share seasons, so the table is wrong
- Each has summer when its hemisphere leans sunward
On December 21, Tala compares noon Sun heights. Which city gets more energy on each patch of ground, and why?
- Phoenix, because it is closer to the Sun then
- Phoenix, because low sunlight is stronger
- Neither, since both get 12 hours of daylight
- Sydney, because its sunlight is more direct
Zee carries a tilted globe around a lamp. At spot P, the globe's North Pole leans toward the lamp. Which season is the model showing for the north?
- Winter, since the globe is farthest from the lamp
- Winter, since the tilt must turn as it moves
- Summer, since the north gets direct light
- Summer for both halves of the globe
Classroom model, top view
a lamp in the middle of a table; a tilted globe at four spots P, Q, R and S around it; the North Pole leans toward the window side of the room at every spot. The globe is at R, across the lamp from P.
In the lamp model, Ari keeps the tilt pointing the same way while walking the globe to spot R, across from P. What season does the north have there?
- Winter for both halves of the globe
- Winter, since the North Pole now leans away
- Summer again, since the tilt did not change
- Summer, since R is closer to the lamp
In Bo's model, the globe's North Pole is turned to face the lamp at every spot. What is wrong with this model?
- Earth's axis keeps pointing the same way all year
- Nothing; Earth's tilt follows the Sun around
- The globe should show one season on both halves
- The globe should move closer to the lamp in summer