Name: Angelimar Lopez Class Period: 2

nd
Date: September 11, 2014
SEASONS WEBQUEST
Click on the following link to answer the following questions:
http://www.astronomy.org/programs/seasons/
1. During which season is the earth closest to the sun, summer or winter? Winter
Scroll down to the Direct Energy vs. Indirect Energy picture of the flashlights.
2. Direct energy always produces short shadows while indirect energy creates long shadows.
3. Why is this important to how warm we feel?
Depending on how the sun hits us, will determine how warm we feel. If the sun is hitting us
directly, well feel it a lot more than when the sun is hitting us indirectly.
Click on the following link to answer more questions.
http://vortex.plymouth.edu/sun/sun.html

Click on Why are there seasons?
1. Explain the difference between an equinox and a solstice:
During an equinox is when days and nights are equal, while during a solstice either day or
night is longest. Also, an equinox occurs when the sun is directly over the equator, and a
solstice when the sun is exactly 23.5 N Latitude which marks summer or 23.5 S Latitude
which marks winter.
2. How many of each do we have each year? 2
Name them:
Solstices: Equinoxes:
a. Summer a. Vernal- spring
b. Winter b. Autumnal- fall

Click on Rotation
1. In which direction does the Earth spin on its axis? Counterclockwise
Click on Solstices
2. In which direction is the Northern Hemispere tilted during mid-Spring and summer?
During this time its tilted towards the sun.
3. How does this effect the amount of daylight we have during this time?
It gives us longer hours of daylight.
4. During what time of year does the North Pole experience 24 hours of sunlight?
March and September
South pole?
From mid-Autumn to mid-winter
Click on Our Orbit
5. Draw and label the Earths position in relation to the sun during each of the 4 seasons:













http://agatelady.blogspot.com/2012/09/beginning-of-autumn.html
Click on Temperatures

1. During what season does the Northern Hemisphere receive more concentrated energy
from the sun? (look at the flashlight example for a clue)
Summer
2. During what season (time of year) does the Sun have to travel through more atmosphere?
Winter___________________________________________________
If you were having to explain the reasons for the seasons to a 5
th
grader who is convinced that
seasons come from being closer or further away from the Sun explain how you would do it
below: (Include at least 3 things you learned from these sites!)
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Although it may really seem that our seasons are caused by how close the sun is to the Earth, it
turns out that thats not how it works. Our seasons are caused by the tilt of the Earth on its axis
along with the rotation of it as its going around the sun. Summer is not when the Earth is closest
to the Sun but when its far away from it and winter is when its close to the sun. Still cant rap
your head around it? Thats okay try and look at it this way, when you shine a flashlight directly
at the wall, it only takes up a small space but if you slightly tilt the flashlight youll notice that it
takes up a much bigger space. The sun is the flashlight and the Earth is the wall. When the sun
is closest to the Earth and its at a tilt, the rays of the sun have to cover a bigger area thus not
proving as much heat as it would if it was further away and was just hitting a smaller area.
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