Rotation and Revolution

What Makes The World Go 'Round

by Mr. Abel

​The Sun!

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​It's a massive ball of hot gas in the sky. We need it for photosynthesis and the seasons.

Multiple Choice

The sun is a giant ball of gas that we need for photosynthesis and _________.

• Seasons

• Dance parties

Revolution!

​Different than a revolution in Social Studies, this kind of revolution is talking about planets like Earth going around the sun.

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It takes the Earth 365 days (one year) to make one revolution.​

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​You can also use the words "revolve" and "orbit" to talk about this process.

Multiple Choice

The Earth ________ around the sun.

• Gallops

• Revolves

• Breakdances

​Rotation and the Axis!

​The Earth also rotates. Rotate means to spin around a center point, which is called an axis.

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It takes the Earth 24 hours (a day) to make one rotation​.

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​When something rotates, it is spinning on an axis, which is an invisible line that goes down the middle of the object.

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​As you can see from the picture to the right, Earth is titled on its axis. The Earth isn't perfectly situated straight up and down. It's tilted on its axis. This gives us our seasons.

Multiple Choice

Earth ______, which means to spin around an axis.

• Revolves

• Rotates

Multiple Choice

An _______ is the imaginary line that an object rotates around.

• Axis

• Axe

​Seasons!

​So we've talked about revolving, rotating, and what an axis is, but how do those things apply to you?

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​Well, without these things acting the way they do, we wouldn't have day or night. We wouldn't have seasons. If you lived on the side of the Earth facing away from the sun, you would always be cold and in the dark.

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Or you could be facing towards it and never get to enjoy snow!