This Seasonal Tilt Worksheet asks 5th graders to read an Earth and Sun orbit diagram, name the season at four positions, and explain what causes the change. Answer key included for fast, confident grading.
While listening to the Seasons Song (MP3), students learn about the seasons of the year while listening to a catchy song.
This Holidays by Season - Reading Comprehension Worksheet gives 5th grade readers a two-page informational passage about the holidays of every season, six text-evidence questions, and a complete answer key.
It's all about the tilt!
Fifth graders learn the real reason we have seasons: Earth is tilted about 23.5 degrees on its axis as it orbits the Sun. When our half of Earth tilts toward the Sun, sunlight hits more directly and days are longer, so we get summer. When it tilts away, light is spread out and days are shorter, so we get winter. They also learn that the seasons are flipped in the Southern Hemisphere, and they bust the big myth that summer happens because Earth is closer to the Sun. The click comes when a flashlight shined straight down versus at a slant suddenly explains July and January.
Seasons are a space puzzle, so we let kids see it and model it. These moves help the tilt idea finally make sense.
Have kids sketch Earth at four spots around the Sun with the axis always pointing the same way. Label which half leans toward the Sun at each spot. Drawing it themselves fixes the "closer to the Sun" myth fast.
Why it works: children learn more from words and pictures together than from words alone (Mayer, 2009).
Try it withSeasonal Tilt WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →Play the seasons song while kids walk a globe around a lamp in the middle of the room. The music gives them words, and the walk shows them the tilt in action.
Why it works: a catchy, repeating tune gives the brain a hook to hang words on, so sung text is remembered better (Wallace, 1994).
Try it withSeasons Song (MP3)SongsOpen it →Use a short reading passage about seasons as a quick check. Kids answer, then explain one answer to a partner using the word "tilt." If they say "closer to the Sun," you know who needs another lamp walk.
Why it works: researchers who compared ten study methods found practice testing is one of the two that work best (Dunlosky and colleagues, 2013).
Try it withHolidays by Season - Reading Comprehension WorksheetAssessmentsOpen it →Holidays make the seasons feel real. Use holiday pictures to link the calendar to Earth's trip around the Sun.
Flash CardsPlace the Fourth of July picture on your class orbit model. Kids explain why our half of Earth is tilted toward the Sun that day.
Open 4th Of July Clip Art →
Flash CardsPut the Thanksgiving picture on the orbit and ask: tilted toward or away? Then flip it for a friend in Australia!
Open Thanksgiving Clip Art →
Flash CardsSt. Patrick's Day lands just before the spring equinox. Kids find it on the orbit and explain why day and night are nearly equal.
Open St. Patrick's Day Clip Art →Teacher favorites right now: Seasonal Tilt Worksheet, Seasons Song (MP3) and Thanksgiving Clip Art.
The tilt of Earth's axis causes the seasons. As Earth orbits the Sun, the half tilted toward the Sun gets more direct sunlight and longer days, which makes summer.
No, that is a common myth. Earth is actually closest to the Sun in early January, during winter in the Northern Hemisphere. The tilt, not the distance, makes the seasons.
Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere. When the Northern Hemisphere tilts toward the Sun, the Southern Hemisphere tilts away, so their summer happens during our winter.
Use a lamp as the Sun and a ball or orange with a stick through it as Earth. Keep the stick tilted the same way and walk it around the lamp. Kids see which side gets the most light.
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