Summer Midnight Sun
NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION ARCTIC Summer Midnight Sun Summary ✔ Copies of student worksheets year, as the earth makes its orbit Students build a three- around the sun, the tilt produces dimensional model of the variable day lengths, and the rotation of the earth to change of seasons. When the appreciate the extremes of Background arctic is tilted away from the sun, daylight hours at different The Earth’s axis is an imaginary in the winter months, it gets little months of the year, and make line through its core, connecting or no sunlight. The sun appears connections between available the North and South poles. The to be at a very low angle on the sunlight and the growth and earth revolves around this axis, horizon, which also means less behavior of plants of the arctic. one full revolution per day. The intense light reaching the arctic. earth rotates so that during the On the other hand, when the Grade Level arctic is tilted toward the sun, in 5-8; 3-4 day we face the sun, and at night the summer months, it gets more Time Estimate we face away from the sun. one to two class periods. Because the earth is round, parts intense sunlight almost around the clock. Subjects: of it are closer to the sun than math, physics, geography, others. Parts that are closer Sunlight is critical to photosyn- science (nearer to the equator, lower lati- thesis, the process by which Skills: tude) experience more intense plants produce their own food. analysis, application, sunlight than parts that are Plants need water and sunlight in comparison, problem- further, such as the arctic at high order to photosynthesize.
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