Understand How Day Length Changes

In this activity, we are going to be learning more about how the amount of daylight changes and how this affects our days on Earth!

Earth spins like a tilted ball, and it also travels around the Sun. This tilt acts like a switch for sunshine!

In summer, our part of Earth gets tilted towards the Sun. The Sun's rays hit us straight on, making strong sunlight last longer, giving us long days for playing!

Winter is the opposite. Earth tilts away, so the Sun's rays hit at an angle, making weaker sunlight that lasts less time, giving us shorter days.

Daylight Saving Time is like a bonus! In spring, when days get longer, we 'spring forward' by setting clocks ahead one hour.

It's like getting an extra hour of sunshine after school, even though the days are naturally getting longer. (There aren't more hours, we just use them differently!)

Then, in autumn (or Fall as it is called in the US), when there is less daylight, we 'fall back' by setting clocks back one hour.

It's like getting an extra hour of sleep in the morning, even though the days are naturally getting shorter.

So, Earth's tilt controls sunshine, and Daylight Saving Time is a little trick to make the most of playtime sunshine throughout the year!

Let's use these facts today to help us answer these questions!