Tides
What causes tides?
The gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun
Name the four seasons in order.
Summer, autumn, winter, spring.
What is the axial tilt of the Earth?
23.5 degrees
What are daylight hours?
The number of hours between sunrise and sunset.
What is latitude?
A measure of how far a region is from the Equator.
Give a definition of neap tides.
Caused when the Sun and Moon are at right angles, creating opposing forces.
Why do we have seasons?
Seasons occur due to the tilt of the Earth resulting in hemispheres being closer/further to the Sun depending on the time of year.
How long does it take Earth to rotate once around its axis?
24 hours.
What are sunlight hours?
A measure of how much sunlight a region receives in a day. Can be affected by weather.
Is a country with a latitude of 50 degrees closer to the Equator or the poles?
Poles.
Give a definition of perigee.
When the Moon is at the closest point to Earth in it's orbit.
How many seasons do regions close to the Equator have?
Two. Considered as wet and dry seasons.
What type of path does the Moon take as it orbits Earth?
Elliptical.
As the Sun gets higher in the sky, what happens to shadows?
Shadows get shorter.
What are the Māori names for the four seasons?
Kōanga, Ngahuru, Hōtoke and Raumati
What happens to the water during a spring tide?
Higher high tides and lower low tides.
Why are does the UK get winter when NZ has summer?
The UK is in the Northern Hemisphere vs NZ in the Southern Hemisphere. When NZ is titled towards the Sun (causing summer), the UK is tilted away (causing winter).
What is an equinox?
The two days a year where each hemisphere has an equal amount of daylight hours.
Do shadows get longer or shorter the further from the Equator you get?
Longer, as the Sun gets lower in the sky the further from the Equator you are.
What happens in the poles during winter?
They experience no sunlight during winter, so 24 hours of darkness each day.
What is a king tide?
When a spring tide occurs when the Moon is at perigee, causing extremely high tides.
If the Earth was not tilted, would we experience seasons?
No, as we would all have the same sun exposure year round.
When do the two solstices occur on Earth?
December and June.
Which part of New Zealand would have more daylight hours - Dunedin or Wellington? Explain why.
Wellington, as they are closer to the Equator so experience slightly more daylight compared to Dunedin which lies at a higher latitude.
What is a solar eclipse?
When the Moon aligns between the Earth and the Sun, casting a shadow over Earth.