Seasons Lab

Our last class was spent doing a lab on the seasons. If you did not finish answering the questions that went along with the lab, it was to be finished for homework.

Don't forget - lab grades weigh more heavily on your overall grade than other assignments.

Here is the worksheet for the lab:

Fill out the diagram based on your observations in the lab.

Answer the following questions based on the lab performed:

1.      Do all places on Earth experience the same season at the same time?

2.      Does Earth's distance from our Sun affect seasons? Why or why not?

3.      What are the motions of Earth and our Sun that create the 24-hour day/night pattern we know on Earth? 

4.      How long does it take for Earth to go through a cycle of seasons or to go from one winter to the next? What is this period called?

5.      What changes as we go from summer to winter?

6.      What motions of our Sun and Earth can you propose that will explain these observations about the seasons on Earth?

7.      Does the direction of tilt of the Earth change? 

8.      What is the relationship between our Sun and Earth in the northern hemisphere summer?

Winter?

9.      What do you observe about the direction of incoming “solar rays” in the winter and summer?

10.  Where are the Sun's rays striking most directly in the northern hemisphere summer?

In the northern hemisphere winter? 

11.  Does distance from our Sun influence Earth's seasons? 

12.  When does the longest day of the year occur in the northern hemisphere? 

13.  What do we call it? 

14.  What is the relationship between our Sun and Earth that makes this happen?

15.  When does winter solstice occur in the northern hemisphere and what happens? 

16.  Where is our northern hemisphere axis pointing?

17.  What does equinox mean?

18.  When is the equinox?

19.  Where do the equinoxes occur in your model?

20.  What happens with our Sun's rays in the spring and fall? 

This is something like what your diagram should look like:

Which season it is in each hemisphere should also be indicated in the diagram. Don't forget - we have four seasons throughout the year.