Reasons for Seasons

Guiding Question: How does the tilt of the Earth's axis affect the light received by the Earth as it revolves around the sun?

Hypothesis: The way the Earth is tilted on its axis affects the light received by the Earth as it revolves around the sun. The reason why is because the suns light/heat hits the equator, and streaches to the poles. But since the poles dont have any direct light, it is dark over there. Just like the side of Earth that is not facing the sun will be dark since there is not enough sun light to cover that big of an area.

Winter:

Most direct light at the equator

The squares streach at the poles

Not much shadow in the northern hemisphere

Summer:

No light in the southern hemisphere

Long shadow

Most direct light at the equator

1.      Observing:   When it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, which areas on  Earth get most concentrated light? Which areas get the most concentrated light when it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere?

 When its winter on the northern hemisphere the area around the equator get the most direct light, you can see that because around the equator the squares look like complete squares. Under and above the equator the squares got a more rectangular shape, that means the sun is less direct. When it is summer, also the area around the equator gets the most direct light, but above and under the equator the squares are less rectangular than when it’s winter.

2.      Observing:  Compare your observations of how the light hits the area half way between the equator and the North Pole during winter and during summer

The light hits the area halfway between the equator and the North Pole with it concentrated right in the middle between direct light and indirect light in winter. In summer, this area gets shone on with more direct light than indirect light, because the sun is closer to that area in summer than it is in winter. This also explains why the squares above the equator are more square like than in summer than in winter.

3.      Inferring: If the squares projected on the ball from the acetate became larger, what can you infer about the amount of heat distributed in each square?

If the squares on the earth became larger, it would mean that the sun is farther away, which means it is colder with less direct light, because the heat has to travel at an angle. More energy gets absorbed by the atmosphere before it can reach earth.

4.      inferring: according to your observations, which areas on earths are consistently coolest? which areas are consistently warmest? why?

According to my observations, the parts which are always the coolest are the North Pole and the South Pole. They are at the “top” and the “bottom” of the earth, so they get the least sun light (the least heat). The warmest part is always the equator, because the equator sticks out the most, so it is the part which is always closer to the sun than all other parts of the earth and always gets direct light.

5.      predicting: what time of year will the toothpick shadow we longest? when will the shadow be shortest?

The shadow of the toothpick was always the longest in summer. This is because at that point the sun shines on the part where the toothpick stands most directly. The toothpick’s shadow is the shortest in winter, because the sun shines on that part with less energy than in summer, because it is farther away from the sun.

6.      drawing conclusions: how are the amounts of heat and alight received in a square related to the angle of the sun's rays?

The light and heat received in a square are related to the angle of the sun’s rays, because when the sun is farther away from the earth, there is less energy and light reaching earth, which means that the suns rays are hitting Earth at an angle. What I think is when it is colder (which means that there would be less heat and sunlight in this area), the sun is farther away or not shining directly on the area. When it is warmer, it means that the sun is shining more direct on the area.

7.      communicating: use your observations of an earth sun model to write an explanation of what causes seasons

           The reason seasons are caused is the rotation of the earth on its axis and revolution around the sun. It gets warmer in the area where the sun is closer to earth. When it’s warmer in that area, it means that area is getting more direct sunlight. On the other hand, when the earth is farther away from the sun it is colder, because the light and energy has to travel farther, therefore more atmosphere is there to absorb some of it.