Seasons: the effect of our tilted Earth

The new ELI, published today, 'Seasons: the effect of our tilted Earth' is the last in this 'Earth in space' series. It involves an indoor demonstration which explains the changing seasons very clearly.

After watching the activity pupils will be able to:-

• explain how the half of the Earth bathed in sunlight at any one time is experiencing day, whilst the other half is experiencing night;
• point out and explain the day/night dividing lines of dawn and dusk;
• explain why night and day are of equal length at the equinoxes;
• point out and explain how polar regions are lit in the summer but are in darkness in the winter;
• explain why winter and summer are at the opposite ends of the year in the other hemisphere, compared to their own;
• explain why equatorial regions have no seasons.

Visit the website for more 'Earth in space' teaching ideas.