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Days, years and seasons

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The rotation of the Earth

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What time is it?
It is 4 am in London.
Casablanca Philippines
What is the time in
the rest of the world?

place GMT time

Casablanca -1 hr 3 am

Pretoria +2 hr 6 am

Antananarivo +3 hr 7 am
Pretoria Antananarivo
Philippines +8 hr 12 pm

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What are hemispheres?
The Earth is divided into two hemispheres, separated by
the equator. Why do the hemispheres have different
seasons at different times of the year?

northern
hemisphere

equator

southern
hemisphere

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What causes seasons to change?
When the North Pole tilts towards the Sun, it is summer in
the northern hemisphere. At the same time the South Pole
is tilted away from the Sun.

If it is mid-summer in
the UK, what season
will it be in the southern
hemisphere? Winter

Six months later the

Earth will be on the
other side of the Sun.
How does this affect
the seasons?

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The seasons

spring in the UK

summer in the UK winter in the UK

autumn in the UK
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What is the season?

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 The Moon

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The Moon
The Sun and the Moon look about the same size from
Earth, but they are not.

The Sun is about 400 times wider than the Moon but is
400 times further away!

The Moon takes just over 27 days to orbit the Earth.

sunlight

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The phases of the Moon

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Phases of the Moon activity

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Questions about the Moon
1. The Moon does not produce its
own light – how can we see it?
2. How long does it take the Moon
to orbit the Earth?
3. Why do we always see the
same side of the Moon?
4. Why do we only see a full Moon once a month?
5. What is a new Moon?
6. What force keeps the Moon in orbit around the Earth?
7. Why is there very little atmosphere on the Moon?
8. How does the Moon cause tides?

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Eclipses
A solar eclipse happens when
the Moon passes between the
Sun and the Earth, casting a
shadow over the Earth.
The last solar eclipse over the
UK was on 11th August 1999.
Solar eclipses are rare.
A lunar eclipse happens when
the Earth passes between the
Sun and the Moon, casting a
shadow over the Moon.
Lunar eclipses happen
in most years.

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What happens during a solar eclipse?
Where must the Moon be for a solar eclipse to take place?
During a solar eclipse the Moon moves directly between
the Sun and the Earth, blocking the Sun’s rays from
reaching part of the Earth.

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What happens during a lunar eclipse?
Where must the Moon be for a lunar eclipse to take place?
During a lunar eclipse the Moon is on the opposite side
of the Earth to the Sun, blocking the Sun’s light from
reaching the Moon.

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Questions about eclipses
1. Why do eclipses only last a few
minutes?
2. Why do you think ancient people
were frightened of eclipses?
3. What causes an eclipse of the Sun
(a solar eclipse)?
4. What causes an eclipse of the Moon (a lunar eclipse)?
5. What would a lunar eclipse look like if you were an
astronaut standing on the Moon?
6. Draw simple ray diagrams of a:
 solar eclipse
 lunar eclipse

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 The Solar System

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Labelling the planets

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Data on the Solar System

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Solar System timeline

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Temperature across the Solar System
Using the information about the Solar System, you can
plot a graph showing ‘surface temperature’ [y] against
‘distance from the Sun’ [x]:
500 What happens
400
to the surface
surface temperature (ºC)

temperature of
300
planets as they
200 get further away
100 from the Sun?
0
1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 Predict the surface
-100
temperature of a
-200 planet that is
-300 7000 km away
distance from the Sun (millions km) from the Sun.
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Planet postcards
1. Choose a planet that
you would like to know
more about. You cannot
choose Earth.
2. Using books or any
other sources of
information find out five
facts about that planet.
3. Design a postcard from that planet. You need to
draw a front to the postcard that suits your planet.
4. Write a postcard to someone on Earth as if you
are visiting the planet you have chosen. You
must use your five facts in your postcard.

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Planet travel guides
1. Choose a planet that you would like to know more about.
2. Find out about that planet
using books and other
sources of information.
3. Design a travel brochure
to encourage people to
come and visit the planet.
4. You could tell people:
 the climate of the planet
 where they will stay
 what sights they can see on the planet
 how they can get there and how long it will
take.
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How many Earth years?

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Which planet?

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Solar System quiz

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 Satellites and probes

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Satellites – science fiction to science fact
For thousands of years, humans have been fascinated by the
night sky and what lies beyond it.

Science fiction writers first suggested the idea that artificial

satellites could be put into orbit around the Earth.

This only became reality in 1957 when the Soviet Union

placed Sputnik I and Sputnik II into orbit – Sputnik II carried
a live dog called Laika!

Today, artificial satellites are

frequently launched by space
shuttles and unmanned rockets.

Artificial satellites have many uses including communications,

satellite TV, weather forecasting and navigation.

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Using satellites to view space
Astronomical satellites, such as the Hubble Space
Telescope (HST), are large telescopes placed in a high
orbit far away from the effects of the Earth’s atmosphere.

This means that their images

of the Universe are much
more detailed than images
observed from Earth.

These satellites can ‘see’

much further into space
and give us images of
stars and galaxies many
light years away, like this,
the Eagle Nebula.

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Exploring space – mission to Mars
Our search for answers and clues to the origin of the
Solar System and the possibility of life elsewhere led
to the development of unmanned space probes.
For years, science fiction had brought us stories of
Martians – but could they really exist or have existed?
On 4th December 1996, NASA
launched the ‘Pathfinder’ Discovery
Mission to Mars. It cost $150 million
and took 7 months to reach Mars.
When it had landed, the
‘Sojourner Rover’ buggy tested
Mars’ atmosphere, surface and
weather, amongst other things.

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Mission to Mars – tests on Mars
The tests carried out by the Rover showed that Mars is
much more like the Earth than was expected.

Was Mars like the Earth until something catastrophic

happened?

The tests also showed that the

crust of Mars is very similar to
continental crust on Earth and
that volcanoes had played a
part in Mars’ formation.

Why did the volcanoes stop?

Did the gases they gave

out kill any Martian life?

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Mission to Mars – erosion on Mars
The surface of Mars has undergone intense erosion by
massive floods and by strong winds.

Did it rain on Mars?

How much water
was there on Mars?
Was there life in the
water?

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Questions about satellites and probes
1. Give two uses of artificial satellites.

2. Why can the Hubble

Space Telescope ‘see’
much further into space
and produce much
clearer images than
telescopes on Earth?

3. Why didn’t NASA send astronauts to Mars instead

of the unmanned ‘Pathfinder’ Discovery Mission?

4. Give two reasons why there is unlikely to be life on Mars.

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Is there life out there?
Although many people believe that there is intelligent life
on other planets, it is a great challenge to find this.

Should we spend lots of money looking for aliens when there

are still huge numbers of plants and animals on our planet
that we know nothing about?

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Life on other planets?

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 Summary activities

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Glossary
 axis – The line that the Earth rotates about, which is
tilted at an angle of 23.5°.
 lunar eclipse – The blocking of the Moon’s light, when
the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon.
 luminous – An object that gives out light.
 orbit – The path of a planet around the Sun, or the path
of a satellite around a planet.
 satellite – Any object that orbits another object.
 seasons – The different periods of a year caused by
the tilt of Earth’s axis.
 solar system – The Sun and the collection of planets
and other objects orbiting around it.
 solar eclipse – The blocking of the Sun’s light, when
the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun.

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Anagrams

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Multiple-choice quiz

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