Day, Night, and Seasons

Which of these changes would likely occur if the rate of Earth's rotation on its axis increased?

• The length of the seasons would be shorter.

• The length of the seasons would be longer.

• The length of a day would be shorter.

• The length of a day would be longer.

The model shows Earth in several positions relative to the sun.

In which position is it winter in North America?

• Position 1, because North America receives the most direct sun

• Position 2, because North America is tilted toward the sun

• Position 3, because North America is parallel to the sun

• Position 4, because North America is tilted away from the sun

A student wants to use a spinning basketball to model the day-and-night cycle on Earth.

What should the student do in order to best model the cause of the day-and-night cycle?

• Spin the ball in different directions

• Tilt the ball while it is spinning

• Paint one half of the ball black and the other half white

• Shine a bright light on one side of the ball

In the summer many people enjoy going to the beach. The photograph shows a beach in Argentina, which is located in the Southern Hemisphere.

Which diagram shows the position of Earth when it is summer in Argentina?

• 
• 
• 
• 

A student draws the model shown.

Which of these best compares the conditions at Location X and Location Y?

• Is is day at Location X and night at Location Y.

• It is winter at Location X and summer at Location Y.

• There are more hours of daylight at Location X than at Location Y.

• The moon is brighter when viewed from Location X than when viewed from Location Y.

Which of these locations on Earth experiences the least change in the number of daylight hours throughout the year?

• Equator

• North Pole

• Tropic of Cancer

• Tropic of Capricorn

Earth would not have seasons if it --

• no longer tilted on its axis

• stopped rotating on its axis

• took an additional month to orbit the sun

• revolved around the sun in the opposite direction

The diagram below shows four positions in Earth's orbit around the sun.

The Northern Hemisphere experiences the beginning of spring when Earth is in --

• Position 1

• Position 2

• Position 3

• Position 4