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How Does a Planet’s Tilt Affect its
Seasons?
1. Is the Earth’s axis straight up and down? __no___
a. With respect to the Sun, what is Earth’s axis tilted at? __23.5°_
b. Draw Earth’s axis:
Earth
2. Draw a diagram explaining your understanding of how Earth’s position
relative to the sun causes the seasons.
We did this in class 
3. Draw a diagram showing the difference in direct sunlight and indirect
sunlight.
Direct Sunlight
Indirect Sunlight
A beam of light from the Sun is
concentrated on a small area of
Earth. All the warmth from the beam
of sunlight is concentrated on a
small area and it is very warm.
A beam of light from the Sun is
being spread out over a bigger area
because it is hitting Earth at an
angle. The beam of light is being
spread out over a larger area so it is
not as warm.
For example, a plate of 10
cupcakes is being shared with 10
people. Each person gets 1
cupcake. This example will make
more sense when you read the
indirect sunlight example.
For example, a plate of 10
cupcakes is being shared with 100
people. Each person gets 1/10 of a
cupcake. Even though it’s the same
amount of cupcakes, they are
spread out over more people. Each
person gets less.
a. Which regions experience a greater variance in direct and indirect
sunlight? (Northern regions, Southern regions, regions along the
equator)
Northern and Southern regions experience the greatest
variance in direct and indirect sunlight. That is why Northern
regions and Southern regions experience 4 distinct seasons.
b. Which regions experience fairly constant sunlight? (Northern
regions, Southern regions, regions along the equator)
Regions along the equator experience fairly constant sunlight.
That is why regions along the equator only experience two
distinct seasons.
4. In Canada, we experience four (4) distinct seasons (Spring, Summer,
Fall, Winter). In Papua New Guinea, it seems there are two (2) seasons
(Wet and Dry). Can you explain this?
Papa New Guinea is near the equator. Papa New Guinea
experiences a constant amount of sunlight throughout the year.
Papa New Guinea’s temperature does NOT vary much
throughout the year.
5. What do you think would happen if Earth’s axis did not tilt? Would Earth
still experience the seasons? Draw a diagram to help you explain.
If Earth’s axis was not tilted, places would not experience the
seasons. All places on Earth would receive constant daylight.
Days would not get shorter or longer.
6. Uranus’ axis tilts at 97.77°. How do you think this affects the seasons on
Uranus?
Uranus’ axis is tilted at 97.77° so Uranus
almost spins on its side. The North and
South poles of Uranus are pointed either
directly towards the Sun or directly away
from the Sun. This means that places near
the North pole of Uranus are in complete
darkness (Winter) for half of the orbit. The
other 7 planets spin like tops around the
Sun but Uranus spins like a marble.