When the Northern Hemisphere experiences winter, the Southern Hemisphere experiences summer.)Дivide students into small groups of three. When the Earth's axis is tilted toward the sun for the Northern Hemisphere, the people in the Northern Hemisphere experience summer, while at the same time, the Southern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun and the people there experience winter. Ask: How would this change if you lived in the Southern Hemisphere? (The opposite would happen. When the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun, you experience winter. When the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, you experience summer. Display the diagram вЂњSeasonsвЂќ for students, and point to the parts of the diagram as you explain the following: If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, you live on the part of the Earth that is north of the Equator. The direction of this lean does not change significantly over the course of a year, but it does shift gradually over millennia.В As the Earth travels along its orbit, it sometimes leans toward the sun and sometimes away from the sun. In other words, our planet never stands upright-it is always leaning to the side. Then explain the following to students: The Earth rotates on an axis that is tilted. Use a globe and gesture to introduce the vocabulary terms tilt and axis, the imaginary line between the North and South Poles. Build background about what causes seasons. Ask: What do you think causes the difference in seasons? What do you think causes the difference in what time it gets dark outside?Дў.

Then explain to students that the answer to that question is different for those who live in a different hemisphere, or half of the Earth. Ask: What is the weather like during the different seasons? What is the same or different about the seasons? Prompt students to include similarities and differences in weather, temperature, and length of daylight. Ask: What are the different seasons? Write the sequence of the seasons on the board for studentsвЂ™ reference: winter, spring, summer, autumn. Activate prior knowledge about seasons and sunlight.Д®xplain to students that the Earth orbits an ideal distance from the sun, and this affects the weather we experience here on Earth.

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