WHY THE SEASONS CHANGE
You might have been wondering why the seasons change. Well, that's what
we were trying to find out. We were given two theories to choose from, and
we had to find out which was the correct one. The first theory was: Summer
occurs on Earth because the Earth is closer to the sun during these months.
The second theory was: Summer occurs on the Earth because of the changing
angle at which the sun_s light strikes the Earth. We went from site to site,
gathering information. When we found good, juicy information, we printed
it out and highlighted the main points.
To test our theory, we conducted an experiment. In our experiment, we used
a solar cell, a volt meter, and a clamp-on spotlight. We hooked the solar
cell to the volt meter, and held the solar cell close the spot light, which
was turned on. When we tilted the solar cell backwards, the needle on the
volt meter went down. This was like winter. When we tilted it forward, the
needle on the volt meter went up. This was like summer.
The theory we found to be correct was theory number two. We found that summer
occurs because during part of the year, the axial tilt causes the northern
hemisphere to be facing the sun more directly, causing summer. Many of the
papers we printed out said that since the Earth_s orbit is almost circular,
the distance from the sun is not a factor in causing the seasons to change.
Written by:
Natalie Doering
and
Cody Kitaura
Buckeye Elementary School
Sixth Grade