SCIENCE POST ACTIVITY

THE SUN AND THE SEASONS The Seasons A. Directions: Study the figure below carefully. It shows the Earth at
The added hours of daylight are one reason why summer is warmer than different locations along its orbit around the Sun. Note that the axis of
winter. But there's another reason that's even more important: the angle Earth is not perpendicular to its plane of orbit; it is tilted. The letter “N”
of the mid-day sun. Notice from the illustrations above that the noon sun refers to the North Pole while “S” refers to the South Pole. Then, answer
is much higher in June than in December. This means that the sun's rays the following guide questions. Write your answer in the paper.
strike the ground more directly in June.
In December, on the other hand, the same amount of energy is diluted
over a larger area of ground: There is a common misconception that
summer is warmer than winter because the sun is closer to us in the
summer. Actually the sun's distance hardly changes at all—and in fact,
the sun happens to be closest to us in January. Again, the seasonal
changes in climate are caused by the varying angle of the sun's rays,
together with the varying amount of time that the sun is above our
horizon.

Q1. In which month is the North Pole shifted toward the Sun– in
December or June?

Q2. In which month is the North Pole tilted or shifted away from the
Sun– in December or June?

To recall, every part of the Earth would receive an equal amount of

sunlight as the earth rotated. As the earth rotates, everyone on earth
experiences day and night. It takes 24 hours for the Earth to rotate once.
But the Earth isn’t perfectly balanced; it’s tilted on axis – the reason why
we have experienced seasonal changes, different length of daytime
and nighttime, and different amount of energy received from the Sun.

Q3. In June, which hemisphere receives straight/direct rays from
the Sun– the Northern Hemisphere or Southern Hemisphere?
Q4. In December, which hemisphere receives direct rays from the
Sun- the Southern Hemisphere or Northern Hemisphere?
B. Directions: Answer the questions below. Write your answer in the
paper.
1. Which of the following best describes the tilt of the earth when it is
summer in the southern hemisphere?
a. The northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun
b. The northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun
c. The norther hemisphere is tilted neither toward or away from the sun
d. Why are you talking about the northern hemisphere when you asked
about the southern hemisphere?
2. Which of the following best describes solstice?
a. Either the longest or shortest day of the year for a hemisphere
b. December 21 or 22
c. June 21 or 22
d. All of the above
3. The earth is a tilted planet. What is the degree of tilt?
a. Approximately 25 degrees b. Exactly 25 degrees
c. 23.5 degrees d. 90 degrees with respect to the sun
4. What effect does the tilt of the earth have?
a. It changes the angle that the sun strikes the earth in different land
areas
b. It causes the earth to be farther away from the sun at different times
of the year
c. When the earth is tilted away from the sun we have night
d. When the earth is tilted away from the sun we have day
5. Which of the following best describes the tilt of the earth during the
spring and fall equinoxes?
a. The earth is tilted away from the sun (Northern hemisphere)
b. The earth is tilted neither toward or away from the sun (tilt is side to
side)
c. The earth is tilted toward the sun (Northern hemisphere)
d. The earth is not tilted during spring and fall
6. What does the earth's tilt cause?
a. The seasons
b. Day and Night
c. Tsunamis
d. Earthquakes