Tic Tac Toe Review

  1. Compare and contrast seasons of winter and summer in the NH:

Summer- NH tilted towards the sun, long days, sun is high in the sky and strikes at a more direct angle

Winter- NH tilted away from the sun, shorter days, sun is lower in the sky and strikes at an indirect angle

Compare and Contrast Solstice and Equinox days

Solstice- when the sun is the farthest north or south of the equator, start the seasons of winter and summer, have the longest days on summer solstice, shortest day on the winter solstice

Equinox day- when the sun is directly overhead at the Equator, start the seasons of fall and spring, almost all latitudes on Earth experience 12 hours of daylight

Sidreal day- time it takes earth to rotate relative to the stars

Solar day- time it takes Earth to rotate relative to the Sun

  1. Draw a picture and explain why we experience seasons on Earth.

The Earth’s axis is tilted 23.5o toward the distant star Polaris. As the Earth orbits the Sun, the hemisphere that is tilted toward the Sun changes. When the hemisphere is tilted toward the sun, that hemisphere experiences summer. The angle of the Sun’s rays in the sky is higher and the days are longer. When a hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun, it experiences winter. The days are shorter and the angle of the Sun in the sky is lower.

  1. Waning gibbous moon (see more than half of the disk of the moon illuminated on the left side).

The next phase would be a third (last) quarter moon.

  1. In the picture the northern hemisphere would be experiencing winter. You know this because the NH is tilted away from the Sun. The daylight hours would be short and the sun would be low in the sky. The angle of the Sun’s rays would be low and indirect. The next season would be spring.
  2. During the Full moon, the Earth/Moon/Sun are all in a line. The moon is on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun. From the Earth you see the entire disc of the moon illuminated. The full moon rises at 6 pm, is high in the sky at midnight, sets at 6 am.

During the First Quarter moon, the Earth/Moon/Sun are at right angles. An observer from Earth would see the right half of the disc of the moon illuminated. First quarter moon rises in the sky at noon, is high in the sky at 6 pm and sets around midnight.

  1. See answer 3.
  1. Someone at 33oS would experience the opposite seasons that we experience in the Northern Hemisphere. During December-March they would have the sun high in the sky and have long days. During June-September they would have the sun low in the sky and have shorter days.
  1. Synchronous rotation describes the fact that the Moon orbits the Earth at the same rate that it revolves. Each motion takes 27.3 days. This means that we only ever see one side of the moon from Earth.

Because the moon orbits around the Earth, as the Earth orbits around the Sun the time it takes for one New moon to the next is 29.5 days.