The document discusses the relationship between the Earth and the Sun. It explains that the Earth rotates daily on its axis, causing day and night, and orbits the Sun yearly, defining the seasons. However, it is the tilt of the Earth's axis, not its orbit or rotation, that directly causes the seasons. When one hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun, it experiences summer, and when tilted away, it experiences winter. This tilt can be illustrated using an analemma, which shows the path of the Sun throughout the year as seen from different hemispheres.

1. Earth/Sun
Relationship
IT’S NOT JUST A CASUAL THING

2. Earth performs multiple rotations.
The most important for us are:
1. Earth’s daily rotation on it’s axis
which gives us day and night.
2. Earth’s rotation or orbit around the
sun which defines our seasonst.
That’s us – Third
Rock from the Sun

3. We know that the earth rotates once
each day on it’s axis giving us day
and night. And that it orbits the sun
once per year giving us seasons.
But, the axis has a tilt. It is the tilt
that actually defines the seasons.
When one part of the earth is tilted
toward the sun, we get summer.
When it’s tilted away, we get winter.

4. We know that the earth rotates once
each day on it’s axis giving us day
and night. And that it orbits the sun
once per year giving us seasons.
But, the axis has a tilt. It is the tilt
that actually defines the seasons.
When one part of the earth is tilted
toward the sun, we get summer.
When it’s tilted away, we get winter.

5. This tilt can be illustrated by something called an
analemma which is the design the sun makes in the sky
as the earth travels through the year.
As seen from the
Northern Hemisphere
As seen from
the Southern
Hemisphere
When the sun is at the top of the “8”, it is the Summer
Solstice. At the bottom is the Winter Solstice. At the
intersection is the Equinox.

6. Climate
IT’S A LIVIN’ THING

7. Key Vocabulary
 Tilt: The angle of the earth on it’s axis that allows for each hemisphere to have seasons.
 Rotation: The daily rotation of the earth on it’s axis which gives us day and night.
 Latitude: The distance from the equator either north or south.
 Air Mass: A body of air with horizontally uniform temperature, humidity, and pressure.
 Continentality: A measure of the difference between continental and marine climates characterized by the increased range
of temperatures that occurs over land compared with water.
 Elevation: The measure of distance relative to sea level.
 Mountains: Vertical land forms rising well above the surrounding area.
 Oceans: Large bodies of salt water. Parts of an ocean include seas and gulfs.
 Pressure: The weight of air above a given area on Earth's surface is called atmospheric pressure.
 Prevailing Wind: A wind from the direction that is predominant at a particular place or season.
 Storms: A violent disturbance of the atmosphere with strong winds and usually rain, thunder, lightning, or snow.

8. Key Concepts/Effects
Lithosphere: The rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper
mantle. In other words, where we live.
Atmosphere The envelope of gases surrounding the earth. It is everything that
effects live on earth.
Biosphere Those parts of the earth (crust, air and water) where living organisms
exist.
Climate Patterns Recurring characteristics of the climate. Climate patterns can last
tens of thousands of years, like the glacial and interglacial periods
within ice ages, or repeat each year, like monsoons.