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Season and Axis Angle

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Student Exploration: Seasons: Why do we have them?

Vocabulary: direct sunlight, Earth’s axis, equator, indirect sunlight, northern hemisphere, North Pole, season, solstice, southern hemisphere, South Pole, summer solstice, winter solstice

Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)

1. At what time of day is sunlight strongest – in the early morning (when the Sun has just risen) or at noon (when the Sun reaches its highest point)? At noon when the Sun reaches its highest point.

2. At what time of year does the noon Sun rise highest in the sky? During the summer time.

3. Based on your answers, why is it warmer in summer than in winter? It is warmer in the summer then in the winter because the Earth’s tilt is …show more content…

B. Which of plates A through G will receive the least? Plates A and G will both receive the least amount of energy because the Sun’s rays will not hit those plates as directly as the rest.

2. Check: Click Fire. Select the TABLE tab to see how many rays hit each plate.

A. Which plate got the most sunlight? Plate D. The least? A and G.

B. Why is it colder at the poles than at the equator? The reason why is because the Sun’s rays hit those areas with the least amount of rays. They are also faced away from the sun the most compared the other areas meaning they will get the least of the Sun’s rays.

3. Set up Gizmo: Click Reset, and turn on Show axis. Earth’s axis is an imaginary line that connects the North Pole to the South Pole. Earth spins around its axis, which is tilted relative to Earth’s orbit. Click Earth axis angle to set the axis angle to a realistic 23°.

4. Collect data: On the DESCRIPTION pane, check that Time A is selected. Click Fire. Select the TABLE pane to see the results, and fill in the left table below. Click Reset, and on the DESCRIPTION pane select Time A + 6 months. Click Fire and fill in the right table.

Time A Time A + 6 months

Plate
Angle
Hits
A
-67
0
B
83
2
C
53
16
D
23
25
E
-7
26
F
-37
21
G
-67
10

Activity B (continued from previous page)

5. Analyze: Plates A, B, and C all lie in the northern hemisphere, the half of Earth north of the equator. Plates E, F, and G all lie in the southern hemisphere,

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