Download Earth`s Seasons

Earth’s Seasons
Standards: 6.8 The student will investigate and understand the organization of the
solar system and the relationships among the various bodies that comprise it. Key
concepts include
g) the relationship of the Earth’s tilt and the seasons;
Resources: Celestia,
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Seasons.s
html,
Harvard video:
Lesson Plan Outline:
Topic Earth and its Seasons
Instructional Objectives the student will be able to:
-explain how Earth’s axial tilt causes its seasons
-describe what position the Earth is in during a specific season
Materials & Resources lamp, black paper, journals, thermometer,
Celestia,
Harvard video

Engage Active Demo: Model of the Earth - ball, Sun - lamp, and Polaris
(North Star) – cut out star. I move ball around the Sun, making sure to
keep the north pole pointing at Polaris, and stopping when the northern
hemisphere is facing towards/away from the sun, while the students
predict which position is summer in the northern hemisphere, and which
is winter.

Explore We watch the Harvard video – interviewing students about
misconceptions involving the cause of Earth’s seasons.
Students explore lab with lamps and flat Earth (black paper). Attached.

Explain First, students will be given a worksheet to read and fill in
(attached) based on their different reading levels. Then journal entry:
Pretend you’re the equator. Describe your temperature and why you stay
the same all year round. Can draw a picture of the Earth & equator too.

Extend Celestia – showing Earth’s tilt. Then explore some other planets
and explain why some have no seasons.
Worksheet – labeling seasons based on the tilt of Earth’s axis.

Evaluate Collect journals and evaluate them based on participation,
providing appropriate feedback. Go over worksheet as a class – formative
assessments.
Plans for Diversity
Student(s): ADD/ADHD
Category/Characteristics: Trouble focusing/staying on task
Accommodations: mixture of group/individual/whole class work, hands-on
activities
Student(s): ELL’s
Category/Characteristics: Cannot speak English well/at all
Accommodations: many pictures, diagrams, labeling, group work.
Connections This lesson fits into the course because in order for students to
understand why distance and position of planets are important, they need to
know what they affect. In this case, the position of Earth affects the changing
seasons we experience on Earth all the time.
Reflections Not really lecturing; students have a lot of hands-on activities
that I supervise, but they complete themselves.
Safety Considerations Warn students not to touch the metal part of the
lamp because they get very hot!
Day 3 worksheet
Lab: Lamp = sun, black paper = flat earth.
Lamp angled so it hits one half of paper more directly than other half (2
different hemispheres). Record temperatures over time of 10 minutes (or
longer to make sufficient observations) and make conclusions.
TIME
START
1 minute
2 minutes
3 minutes
Temperature of the
Temperature of the closer
farther side of the paper
side of the paper
4 minutes
5 minutes
6 minutes
7 minutes
8 minutes
9 minutes
10 minutes
Day 3 Worksheet
3 Different Reading Levels of a Text:
Original Text:
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Seasons.s
html
The Earth's seasons are not caused by the differences in the distance from the
Sun throughout the year (these differences are extremely small). The seasons are
the result of the tilt of the Earth's axis.
The Earth's axis is tilted from perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic by 23.45°.
This tilting is what gives us the four seasons of the year - spring, summer,
autumn (fall) and winter. Since the axis is tilted, different parts of the globe are
oriented towards the Sun at different times of the year.
Summer is warmer than winter (in each hemisphere) because the Sun's rays hit
the Earth at a more direct angle during summer than during winter and also
because the days are much longer than the nights during the summer. During the
winter, the Sun's rays hit the Earth at an extreme angle, and the days are very
short. These effects are due to the tilt of the Earth's axis.
The solstices are days when the sun reaches its farthest northern and southern
declinations. The winter solstice occurs on December 21 or 22 and marks the
beginning of winter (this is the shortest day of the year). The summer solstice
occurs on June 21 and marks the beginning of summer (this is the longest day of
the year). Equinoxes are days in which day and night are of equal duration. The
two yearly equinoxes occur when the sun crosses the celestial equator.
Upper Reading Level: Students can look up this website or try to use their prior
knowledge/what they’ve learned from the lesson so far to fill in the blanks.
The Earth's ________ are not caused by the differences in the distance from the
Sun throughout the year (these differences are extremely small). The seasons are
the result of the ______ of the Earth's axis.
The Earth's ______ is tilted from perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic by
23.45°. This tilting is what gives us the ______ seasons of the year - ________,
_________, __________, and ___________. Since the axis is tilted,
different parts of the globe are oriented towards the ______ at different times of
the year.
__________ is warmer than _________ (in each hemisphere) because the
Sun's rays hit the Earth at a more direct angle during summer than during winter
and also because the days are much longer than the nights during the summer.
During the ________, the Sun's rays hit the Earth at an extreme angle, and the
days are very short. These effects are due to the tilt of the Earth's axis.
The solstices are days when the sun reaches its farthest northern and southern
declinations. The _________ solstice occurs on December 21 or 22 and marks
the beginning of _________ (this is the __________ day of the year). The
__________ solstice occurs on June 21 and marks the beginning of ________
(this is the __________ day of the year). Equinoxes are days in which day and
night are of _________ duration. The two yearly equinoxes occur when the sun
crosses the celestial equator.
Middle Reading Level (rewritten fill-in-the-blank)
The Earth’s _________ are not caused by how close or how far the Earth is
from the ______. The seasons are caused by the tilt of the Earth, which is how
the Earth is pointed towards the ______. When the northern hemisphere of the
Earth is pointed towards the sun, the sun’s rays are hitting that part of the Earth
more, so it’s ________ there. At the same time, the southern hemisphere is
pointing away from the sun, so the sun’s rays don’t hit that part as much,
meaning it’s _________ in the southern hemisphere.
At the opposite time of year, when the northern hemisphere is having _______,
the southern hemisphere is having __________.
The winter solstice is the __________ day of the year, December 21st. This day
is the first day of _________. The summer solstice is the _________ day of
the year, June 21st. This day is the first day of _________.
Equinoxes are days that have 12 hours of ______ and 12 hours of _______, and
they happen on the first day of ________ and the first day of ________.