Earth & Space

Lesson 1: How does Earth move?

Vocabulary:
Axis: An imaginary line that a planet rotates on.
Rotation: One whole spin of an object on its axis
Orbit: The path an object takes as it revolves around a star, planet, or moon.
Revolution: One full orbit of an object around another object.
Day: 24 hours, one full rotation.
Year: 365 days, one full orbit of earth around the sun.

Earth and the Sun

● The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

● Hundreds of years ago, people naturally thought the sun was moving
around the earth.
● We now know that the sun is the center of the solar system.
● Earth and the other planets move around the sun.
● Earth spins, causing the sun and other objects, such as other stars,
to appear to move across the sky.

Earth’s Rotation

● Earth and the other planets of the solar system rotate or spin.
● They each rotate around an imaginary line called an axis.
● The northern end of Earth’s axis is the North Pole and the southern
end of Earth’s axis is the South Pole.
● One whole spin of an object on its axis is called a rotation.
● One full rotation is what we call a day.
● Earth rotates around its imaginary axis from west to east.
Earth’s Revolution

● Earth also moves in an orbit. An orbit is the path an object takes as it

revolves around a star, planet, or moon.
● Earth’s orbit is elliptical - it has an oval shape. The moon’s orbit
around the earth is also elliptical.
● One full orbit of an object around another object is called a
revolution.
● Earth’s revolution around the sun lasts for just a few hours longer
than 365 days, or a year.
● The moon’s revolution around Earth takes 27.3 days, or about a
month.
● Just as gravity keeps you on Earth, gravity keeps Earth in its orbit
around the sun. Because the sun is so massive, its gravity pulls all
the planets toward it. This pull keeps the planet from moving in
straight lines into space.

Seasons

● Earth always tilts the same way during its revolution around the sun
and Earth’s tilt affects how much sunlight parts of Earth recieve.
● The amount of sunlight an area receives affects its climate and
seasons.
● Seasons change as Earth’s axis tilts either towards or away from the
sun at different times during its revolution.
● When the North Pole is tilted away from the sun, sunlight is less
concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere, which causes winter. At
the same time, the South Pole is tilted towards the sun. The Southern
Hemisphere receives concentrated sunlight, which is summer.
● The number of daylight hours also changes as the seasons change.
● On the first day of summer, a hemisphere has more hours of daylight
than at any other time of the year. The least number of daylight hours
occurs on the first day of winter.
● Twice a year the hours of day and night are equal. At this time,
Earth’s axis points neither toward the sun nor away from the sun.