After completing a class KWL chart students will watch the video NASA Spotlight: What Causes The Seasons and answer questions. Students will then explore the concepts introduced in the video through exploration of several different websites. Next, students will show how light at different angles behaves. Then using hands-on materials, students will experiment with how Earth’s 23.5 tilt causes different areas of Earth to receive different amounts of sunlight throughout the year and relate that to Earth’s seasons. Students will also use hands-on materials to experiment what would happen on Earth if Earth’s axis was not tilted. Finally, students will research the rotational tilt of other planets in our solar system and use the hands-on resources to form conclusions about whether or not other planets experience “seasons” during their revolution around the Sun.
