Unit 5: Earth-Sun-Moon Key Concepts
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Unit 5: Earth-Sun-Moon Key Concepts Earth – Sun System The earth revolves around the sun over 365.25 days Earth rotates on its axis every 24 hours; giving daylight in areas facing the sun and night in areas facing away from the sun The North Pole of the Earth’s axis always points to the North Star (Polaris) Seasons: The seasons occur because there are different amounts of direct sunlight and hours of daylight as the Earth revolves around the sun. If the Earth’s axis was not tilted, then the seasons would not occur o Summer - the North Pole is angled towards the sun, and the northern hemisphere experiences warmer weather and longer days. June 20-21 is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. On this day, the sun is directly overhead at the Tropic of Cancer and areas above the Arctic Circle have 24 hours per day of daylight . The northern hemisphere’s summer occurs as the southern hemisphere has its winter o Winter – the North Pole is angled away from the sun, and the northern hemisphere experiences colder weather and shorter days . December 21-22 is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. On this day, the sun is directly overhead at the Tropic of Capricorn and areas above the Arctic Circle receive 24 hours per day of darkness . The northern hemisphere’s winter occurs as the southern hemisphere has its summer o Spring and Autumn Equinox – during the equinox, the days and nights are of approximately equal length, and the sun is directly over the Equator Unit 5: Earth-Sun-Moon Key Concepts Earth – Moon System The Moon revolves around the earth leading to the phases of the Moon cycle which occur over ≈ 28 days, as the Moon completes one revolution around the Earth The same phase of the Moon cycle will be viewed by all places on earth as the earth rotates through a 24 hour day. Moon Phases o New Moon – when the Earth is facing the dark half of the moon. The Moon is in- between the Earth and Sun o Waxing Crescent – as the Moon revolves around the Earth, the lighted portion comes into view o First Quarter – the Moon, Earth, and Sun make a 90° angle and half of the lighted portion of the Moon can be seen o Waxing Gibbous – most of the Moon’s lighted portion can be seen from Earth o Full Moon – All of the Moon’s lighted portion can be seen from Earth. The Earth is in-between the Moon and Sun. o Waning Gibbous – the lighted portion of the Moon starts to decrease from Full. o Third Quarter – the Moon, Earth, and the Sun make a 90° angle and half of the lighted portion of the Moon can be seen o Waning Crescent – as the Moon come close to completing its revolution around the Earth, a small portion of the lighted side of the Moon is visible Eclipse o Solar Eclipse – when the Moon travels in-between the Earth and Sun and the Moon’s shadow falls on the Earth. Only occurs during a New Moon o Lunar Eclipse – when the Earth travels in-between the Moon and Sun and the Earth’s shadow falls on the Moon. Only occurs during a Full Moon Tides o Rising and falling of the Oceans due to the Moon’s gravitational pull o The sun also has an influence on tides o Two high tides and two low tides occur each day. o There is approximately 6 hours between high and low tide o Spring tides occur during the New Moon and Full Moon when the Moon and Sun’s gravitational forces act together to produce higher high-tides than usual and lower low-tides than usual. The tidal range is much larger than usual o Neap tides occur during the first and third quarter phases of the Moon cycle when the Moon and Sun’s gravitational forces work against one another. The tidal range is much smaller than usual. .