The apparent movement of the sun while being viewed on Earth is caused by the rotation of the Earth The Earth spins much like a top It makes a complete rotation once a day Occurs from west-to-east direction

Earth rotates and revolves, or travels around the sun The path, or orbit, is elliptical, not a circle The distance of a planet from the sun changes as it completes its orbit around the sun. At some times of the year it is closer to the sun than other times

It takes Earth days to orbit the sun All planets revolve in a counterclockwise direction The further a planet is from the sun, the larger the orbit, and the longer it takes to revolve around the sun Watch Move- Seasons and Earth- Sun Relations

Earth’s rotational axis is tilted 23.5 degrees from the vertical This affects temperatures on Earth

As Earth revolves around the Sun, the northern and southern hemispheres experience the seasons – spring, summer, fall, winter The seasons are the result of the Earth’s tilt

Earth is farthest from the sun, but the northern hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun Causes intense heating of Earth’s surface and atmosphere There are more hours of daylight Sun appears higher in the sky

Earth is closest to the sun, but the northern hemisphere is tilted away the Sun Causes less heating of Earth’s surface and atmosphere There are fewer hours of daylight Sun appears lower in the sky

Solstice –Occurs twice a year –When the tilt of the Earth’s axis is most tilted towards or most tilted away from the Sun Equniox –Time of the year when the hours of daylight equal the hours of darkness