Seasons & Patterns
What causes the seasons to change on Earth?
Earth’s tilt on its axis and its revolution around the Sun.
What causes day and night on Earth?
Earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours.
How long does it take the Moon to complete one full cycle of phases
About 28-30 days (one lunar cycle).
Name the main stages of the water cycle.
Evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and collection/runoff.
What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather is the day-to-day conditions; climate is the long-term pattern over many years.
Compare the amount of daylight and temperature during summer and winter in Texas.
Summer has more daylight and warmer temperatures; winter has shorter days and cooler temperatures.
If Earth takes 24 hours to rotate once, how many hours of daylight does most of Texas usually have?
Usually around 12 hours of daylight (depending on season).
Why does the Moon appear to change shape from Earth?
Because we see different amounts of the Moon’s sunlit half as it revolves around Earth
What is the Sun’s role in the water cycle?
The Sun provides the energy that causes water to evaporate and move through the cycle.
If it rains three days in a row, is that weather or climate? Explain your reasoning.
Weather—because it describes a short-term event.
If you collect temperature data for a city over 12 months, what pattern would you expect to see, and why?
A repeating pattern of warmer temperatures in summer and cooler in winter because Earth’s tilt changes how much sunlight each hemisphere receives.
Describe how the position of the Sun and the length of a shadow change throughout the day.
In the morning the Sun is low and shadows are long; at noon the Sun is highest and shadows are shortest; in the afternoon shadows lengthen again.
If you see a waxing gibbous tonight, what Moon phase should you expect next week?
It will be near the full Moon or just past it, because waxing gibbous leads into full Moon and then waning phases.
Describe how water from the ocean can end up falling as rain over land.
Ocean water evaporates, forms clouds through condensation, and then falls as precipitation over land.
Why do scientists use data collected over many years to describe climate?
Because climate is based on long-term averages; one year or one season isn’t enough to show a pattern.
Predict what would happen to seasonal changes if Earth’s tilt were straight up and down instead of tilted.
There would be no true seasons—temperatures and daylight would stay almost the same all year.
A student observes their shadow at 9 AM, noon, and 3 PM. The shadow gets shorter, then longer. Explain why this happens using evidence from Earth’s movement.
The Sun appears to move across the sky because of Earth’s rotation. When the Sun is highest (noon), the shadow is shortest; morning and afternoon angles create longer shadows
Explain how you could use data from nightly Moon observations to predict when the next full Moon will occur.
By recording daily phases, you can identify the repeating pattern and estimate when the Moon reaches the next full phase (about every 29–30 days).
Explain how condensation and precipitation are connected in the water cycle.
Condensation forms clouds from cooled water vapor; when droplets get heavy enough, they fall as precipitation.
Compare the climate of a rainforest and a desert. What patterns make them different?
Rainforests are warm and very wet year-round; deserts are hot or cold but very dry with little precipitation.
A student records daylight hours in September, December, March, and June. The data shows the longest days in June and shortest in December. Explain how this pattern is connected to Earth’s position around the Sun.
The Northern Hemisphere gets the most direct sunlight in June (longest days) and the least in December (shortest days), showing its position tilted toward or away from the Sun.
Imagine Earth stopped rotating but still orbited the Sun. Predict how that would affect the day-night cycle and life on Earth.
One side of Earth would always face the Sun (constant daytime) and the other would be in permanent darkness—making temperatures extreme and life very difficult.
A student claims the Moon makes its own light. Use scientific reasoning to explain why that’s incorrect and describe what really causes the Moon to shine.
The Moon reflects sunlight—it does not make its own light. The lit portion we see changes as the Moon orbits Earth.
A drought lasts several months. Use your understanding of the water cycle to explain what might have caused it and predict what could eventually end it.
A drought may happen when evaporation is high and precipitation is low. It can end when weather patterns change and more moisture returns to the area.
You move to a new city where summers are hotter and drier than where you lived before. How can you use both weather and climate data to prepare for your first summer there?
Weather data helps with daily decisions (storms, heat waves), while climate data tells you what conditions are typically expected each summer (temperature, dryness).