School › Day, night, seasons › Ages 6–7
Why is it dark at night?
The Earth spins like a top. Find out why that makes day and night, and why summer and winter are different.
Read
Our Earth is a big ball, and it is always spinning. It turns around once every day.[1][2]
The Sun shines on the Earth. The side of the Earth that faces the Sun has day. The side that faces away from the Sun is dark: it has night. As the Earth spins, your home moves from the light into the dark and back again.[1]
The Earth also travels all the way around the Sun. One trip around the Sun takes one year.[2]
The Earth is a little bit tilted, like a spinning top that leans to one side. Because of this tilt we have seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter.[1][2]
In summer our side of the Earth leans towards the Sun. The days are long and the sunshine is strong, so it is warm. In winter we lean away from the Sun: the days are short and it is colder.[1][4]
When it is summer in the north of the Earth, it is winter in the south! Children in Australia can have a warm, sunny Christmas.[1][3]
Try it: Make day and night
You need
- A torch (flashlight)
- A ball or a globe
- A small sticker or a bit of modelling clay (this is 'you')
- A darkened classroom
Safety
Never shine the torch into anyone's eyes. Never look straight at the real Sun. Move carefully in the darkened room.
What to do
- Put the sticker on the ball. This is where you live.
- One child holds the torch still. The torch is the Sun.
- Another child holds the ball about one big step away and slowly turns it round, like the Earth spinning.
- Watch the sticker. When is it in the light? When is it in the dark?
- Say 'Good morning!' when the sticker comes into the light and 'Good night!' when it goes into the dark.
What happens, and why?
The torch only lights up the side of the ball that faces it. As the ball turns, the sticker moves into the light (day) and then into the dark (night). The real Earth turns once every day, so we get day and night.[1]
Play: Day or night?
Does this usually happen in the day or at night? Tap the right group.
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Quiz
Other ages: Ages 10–11 · Ages 15–16