Years, Seasons and Days – What is Earth’s Orbit?

This scene transports users to a model of the Earth, Sun and Moon, showing Earth’s orbits around the Sun during one year. The 3D model Earth has been paused at four points to highlight how its tilted axis gives rise to different seasonal conditions through the year.

# Learning objectives

1: Be able to describe how the earth’s orbit around the sun affects the seasons.{.info}

2: Be able to describe how the earth’s rotation on its axis affects day and night{.info}

# One Earth Year{.objective .objective1}

In this section students, a description of one year will be provided as one complete orbit of the Earth around the Sun. This journey takes 365 days and six hours, meaning an extra day is needed every four years, called a ‘leap year’. In this activity students are invited to focus on the journey of Earth around the Sun.

# What are the Seasons?{.objective .objective2}

In this section a description is given the Earth’s tilted axis, and that when a hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, receiving more light and more heat energy, it experiences summer, while the opposite hemisphere is in winter. The equinox and solstice mark key times in the changing seasons. In this activity students observe the Earth in December to understand how the tilted axis means that the northern hemisphere is experiencing winter. They then notice how this has changed three months later.

# One Day, 24 Hours{.objective .objective3}

In this section a description is given of Earth’s spin taking 24 hours for each complete rotation, known as a day. Locations around the equator experience approximately 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness through this time, but at the North Pole and South Pole the winter gives weeks of constant darkness. In this activity students are asked to observe a rotating model Earth and see which regions are experiencing daylight and which are in night. Where is experiencing a sunrise and which horizon does the Sun appear to rise from?

# Teacher Resources

### Download Teacher Notes

[](https://data.avncloud.com/activities/794584/files/Years%20Seasons+and+Days+Teacher+Notes+Only.pdf?date=1677767599&size=1204931&md5=e16ea7938fab50f1f6a2d3ca50dfa06a)

### Student Quiz Answers Document

[](https://data.avncloud.com/activities/794585/files/Years%20Seasons+and+Days+Quiz+Answers.pdf?date=1677767717&size=685400&md5=96d54e5fe6ba0f8c5378b4833694085d)

### Download Student Quiz Document

[](https://data.avncloud.com/activities/794587/files/Years%20Seasons+and+Days+Quiz+Only.pdf?date=1677769729&size=96165&md5=0c15b10eef61703a500bbdd37a17b07e)