3.6.6

The Seasons

Test yourself

Seasons

The Earth is tilted at an angle of 23.5 degrees. It is because of this tilt that we have four seasons: winter, spring, summer and the autumn.

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The Earth's axis

  • The Earth rotates on its axis.
    • It is believed the reason the Earth is tilted is because when the Earth was forming, a massive rock hit it and knocked it over slightly.
    • After the collision, a chunk of Earth was flung into space - this ‘chunk’ is what we now call the Moon.
  • The Earth’s axis always points in the same direction as the Earth orbits the Sun.
  • Because of the tilt, the Sun appears higher in the night sky in the summer.
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Hemispheres

  • The equator is an imaginary line around the middle of the Earth.
  • The equator is roughly 40,000km in length (about 25,000 miles).
  • Day and night at the equator are an equal length.
  • The half of the Earth above the equator line is called the Northern Hemisphere.
  • The half of the Earth below the equator line is called the Southern Hemisphere.
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Seasons

  • People are wrong when they claim it is hotter in the summer because the Earth is closer to the Sun.
  • When the tilt of the Earth is facing the Sun, it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere.
    • The summer solstice is the longest day of the year. This is when the North Pole is tilted towards the Sun.
  • When the tilt faces away from the Sun it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
    • The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year. This is when the South Pole is tilted towards the Sun.

Jump to other topics

1Biology

1.1Cells, Tissues & Organs

1.2Reproduction & Variation

1.3Ecological Relationships & Classification

1.4Digestion & Nutrition

1.5Plants & Photosynthesis

1.6Biological Systems & Processes

2Chemistry

2.1Particles

2.2Chemical Reactions

2.3Atoms, Elements, Compounds

2.4The Periodic Table

2.5Materials & the Earth

2.6Reactivity

2.7Energetics

2.8Properties of Materials

3Physics

3.1Energy

3.2Forces & Motion

3.3Waves

3.4Electricity & Magnetism

3.5Matter

3.6Space Physics

4Thinking Scientifically

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