Could a white Christmas in July ever actually happen? PBS's series on space time and measurement presents a video discussing how our ideas about the seasons won't hold true forever! The narrator explains how Earth's gyroscopic behavior warrants the periodic addition of leap days and leap seconds to keep our seasons somewhat aligned with the upcoming equinox.

Concepts

time, the four seasons, the earth's axis, the earth's tilt, the earth's rotation, daylight, standard units of measurement, the earth's orbit

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Demonstrate the ideas in the video with a simple gyroscope if pupils are not familiar with how they move
• Use the resource to expand a lesson on Earth's tilt, rotation, and orbit
  

Classroom Considerations

• Provide a quick review of Earth's movements relative to the sun before watching
  

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• The content is interesting and engaging
• Models of Earth and the sun help younger viewers visualize the resource's main ideas
  

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.9-10.2