THE SEASONS

PHYSICS
PRESENTATION
BY MOHAMMED ALBADRANI
OBJECTIVES
● Describe how the height of the sun in
the sky changes over the year.
● Explain what causes seasons.
THE TILT OF
THE EARTH’S
AXIS
The Earth orbits the Sun once every year
or 365 days. We divide the year into
seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and
winter. In some countries near the poles
there is a big difference in the weather
between summer and winter. In summer
the days are longer and warmer, and in
the winter they are shorter and colder.
Other countries near the equator do not
notice much change.
We can explain why there are seasons by
thinking about the tilt of the Earth's axis. The
axis is tilted by an angle of 23.5°. This angle
of tilt does not change. As the Earth moves
around the Sun, for 6 months the North Pole
is tilted towards the Sun, and for 6 months it
is tilted away from the Sun.
The Earth's tilted axis explains:
•different day lengths in summer and winter
•different temperatures in summer and
winter
•the varying height of the Sun in the sky in
summer and winter.
TEMPERATURE

The longer days help to explain why it is hotter in the

summer. The Sun warms the Earth for longer each day.
There is another reason why it is warmer. If the surface
of the Earth faces directly towards the Sun, the Sun's
rays hit the surface at 90°. If the surface is tilted away at
an angle, the Sun's rays spread out over a bigger area. If
the rays hit the surface at 90° then more energy hits the
surface per square metre per second. This means that
the surface will heat up faster so the air temperature
increases more quickly. Some people think that it is
hotter in the summer because the Earth is closer to the
Sun in the summer. This is not true. The Earth's orbit is
nearly circular. It is slightly closer to the Sun in January
each year.
HEIGHT OF
THE SUN IN
THE SKY
During the day the Sun is
highest in the sky at noon. The
height the Sun reaches at noon
changes over the year. In
summer it is higher than it is in
winter. This is also because of
the Earth's tilted axis.