Students complete a unit of lessons on the four seasons. They examine the effect each season has on plants, animals, and people during the actual season, read magazine and newspaper articles, and create a calendar and poster about each...

A website looks at how we know so much about Mars—telescopes, robots, and spacecraft—and the search for martian life. Following the informational text are three questions that quiz pupils about possible life on Mars. 

Second graders recall the affect of direct and angled sunlight on the seasons, describe some results of warming soil and air in spring, predict the changes in buds when twigs are placed in water, and taste a product of tree sap and...

Students think about what causes the seasons to change, reflect on what they know about seasons and how their lives affected by seasonal changes.

In this climate changes worksheet, students review the different events such as volcanic eruptions and El Nino that change the climate. This worksheet has 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions.

Students observe the state changes in water. In this matter lesson, students observe, measure, and describe water as it changes state. Students explore how water can change from a solid to a liquid then back again. They journal their...

Third graders investigate why the seasons occur throughout the year. They read a traditional wisdom story pertaining to the seasons. They create their own wisdom stories about the seasons and act them out for the class.

In this changing seasons worksheet, middle schoolers read about the geography concept of changing seasons and then respond to 9 short answer questions.

Students investigate the temperature and wind data locally, nationally, and internationally and compare these conditions to those on Mars. Conclusions are drawn about the differences of these conditions and the causes for the variance...

Young scholars examine the elevation of the sun to discover the changes in seasons. They observe and measure the length of their shadow. They compare this measurement to one taken four months later.

Students investigate the concept of a watershed. They conduct research into the concept using a variety of resources. Students take a field trip to a local watershed to make observations. The outcome is a report concerning the outside...

A video and a short multiple-choice quiz on how the Earth's tilt on its axis, its rotation, and its orbit around the Sun give us a 24-hour day, a 365-day year, and our seasons.

This kinesthetic activity demonstrates to students that the Earth's tilt is what is responsible for shifting light patterns and the change in seasons.

This kinesthetic activity will demonstrate concepts like rotation and orbit, clarify movement and direction, and help students understand why earthlings see different things in the sky.

[Free Registration/Login Required] An interactive animation demonstrating the Earth's tilted axis and how that causes the seasons. Also included on the site is a short quiz on the topic.

Students perform many inquiry activities related to Earth's orbit. Included are recording daily temperatures, observing the sun's path over several weeks, tracking sunrise and sunset times, and angle of sunlight. Diagrams make lessons...

A worksheet regarding the path of the Sun around the Earth and the Earth's tilt on its axis.

This interactive activity from the Adler Planetarium explains the "reasons for the seasons." Featured is a game in which Earth must be properly placed in its orbit in order to send Max, the host, to different parts of the world during...

Why do some regions experience full-time heat while others are reckoning with frigid temperatures and snow? And why are the seasons reversed in the two hemispheres? Rebecca Kaplan explains how the shape of the Earth's orbit around the...

Presents an informative answer to the question "What is the speed of the turning of the Earth?"

[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Discusses the motion of the Earth with its day and night cycle, the seasons, the Earth's orbit around the Sun, and its year-long cycle.

Nutation is a small cyclical motion superimposed upon the steady 26,000-year precession of the Earth's axis of rotation. It is mainly caused by the gravitational effect of the 18.6-year rotation period of the Moon's orbit. The main...

The focus of this series of lessons is to engage students in an exploration of the world around them. The emphasis is on inquiry as students learn about the earth, sun, light, shapes and more.

A slideshow exploring Earth's rotation and revolution around the sun. Learn that because of Earth's axis tilt we experience the seasons!