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Home » Earth Circles the Sun

Earth Circles the Sun

By Janice VanCleave

Hi,

The diagram Earth’s revolution around the Sun shown below represents Texas’ 8th Grade Science Standard:
Model and illustrate how the tilted Earth rotates on its axis, causing day and night, and revolves around the Sun causing changes in seasons.
The dates for 2014 and 2015 seasons in the Northern Hemisphere are correct, thus students can use this model to determine the start of each season.
 
The X marks on the diagram indicate the location of  Earth on its path around the Sun for each month of the year. Students can use the model to locate the general position of Earth on any day of the year.
 
PDF Copy of the Earth’s Revolution Around the Sun Diagram: Earth Revolution Model
 
Make note that  Earth’s axis is an imaginary line through the Earth. The points where Earth’s axis exits are called the North Pole and the South Pole.
 
FYI: The needle of a compass DOES NOT point toward the North Pole. Instead, a compass needle points toward Earth’s Magnetic North Pole. The magnetic north pole of Earth changes location. Google the location of Earth’s magnetic north pole during a specific year.
 
Texas Eighth Grade TEKS 8.7A

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Filed Under: Earth Science Tagged With: revolve, rotate, seasons, velocity of Earth's revolution, velocity of Earth's rotation

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