Sunlight and Seasons

June 15 was the last day of school. Tyler invited Emily to his house to listen to music.
Since the temperature was almost 90° F, they got cold drinks and went outside to sit in
the shade and listen there. But Tyler was surprised to find that the shady spot was much
smaller than he expected it to be at that time of day.

You will investigate changes in the Sun’s position in the sky over a year. This will help
you explain why the shady spot from Tyler’s tree is smaller in June than it was earlier in
the year.

What do you observe about the length of daylight and the position of the Sun in the
sky during the course of a year?

Lesson adapted from SEPUP in Issues & Earth Science: The Earth in Space
 Sunlight and Seasons

Table 1: Daylight Hours and Sun Angle (2005)

Month Time of Sunrise Time of Sunset Daylight (hours) Sun’s Highest Angle
(a.m.) (p.m.)
January 7:20 5:19 10.0 32°
February 6:50 5:54 11.1 41°
March 6:09 6:21 12.2 52°
April 5:24 6:50 13.4 64°
May 4:53 7:17 14.4 72°
June 4:46 7:34 14.8 75°
July 5:02 7:26 14.4 73°
August 5:28 6:53 13.4 64°
September 5:55 6:06 12.2 53°
October 6:23 5:22 11.0 42°
November 6:56 4:52 10.0 32°
December 7:21 4:52 9.5 29°

Procedure
1. Discuss what patterns you see.
2. Prepare a scatterplot of daylight length and Sun’s highest angle vs. month.
3. When you complete your graph, cut it at the line indicated on your student sheet and
tape it to your partner’s graph.
4. Draw a curve to smoothly connect the points on your graph.
5. Label the Daylight curve and label the Sun Angle curve
6. Discuss the patterns you see now that you have graphed the data.

Sunlight and Seasons

Table 2: Daylight Hours and Sun Angle (2006)

Month Time of Sunrise Time of Sunset Daylight (hours) Sun’s Highest
(a.m.) (p.m.) Angle
January 7:19 5:19 10.0 32°
Lesson adapted from SEPUP in Issues & Earth Science: The Earth in Space
 February 6:50 5:54 11.1 41°
March 6:09 6:21 12.2 52°
April 5:24 6:51 13.4 64°
May 4:53 7:17 14.4 72°
June 4:46 7:34 14.8 75°
July 5:03 7:26 14.4 73°
August 5:28 6:53 13.4 64°
September 5:55 6:06 12.2 53°
October 6:23 5:22 11.0 42°
November 6:56 4:49 10.0 32°
December 7:21 4:52 9.5 29°

Procedure
1. Discuss what patterns you see.
2. Prepare a scatterplot of daylight length and Sun’s highest angle vs. month.
3. When you complete your graph, cut it at the line indicated on your student sheet and
tape it to your partner’s graph.
4. Draw a curve to smoothly connect the points on your graph.
5. Label the Daylight curve and label the Sun Angle curve
6. Discuss the patterns you see now that you have graphed the data.

Analysis Question
What do you observe about the length of daylight and the position of the Sun in
the sky during each season?

Confused? Answer these questions.

- During Summer, what is the daylight length (do we have long days or short
days?) and how high is the sun in the sky?

- During Fall, what is the daylight length (do we have long days or short days?)
and how high is the sun in the sky?

- During Winter, what is the daylight length (do we have long days or short days?)
and how high is the sun in the sky?

Lesson adapted from SEPUP in Issues & Earth Science: The Earth in Space
- During Spring, what is the daylight length (do we have long days or short days?)
and how high is the sun in the sky?

Lesson adapted from SEPUP in Issues & Earth Science: The Earth in Space