Sun's Path Across the Sky
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This is what we call the invisible line the Sun seems to follow as it moves from sunrise to sunset.
What is the Sun’s path across the sky?
This season has the longest days of the year, because the Sun is out for more hours.
What is summer
Clue: When the Sun is high in the sky, shadows on the ground are usually like this.
what is short
The time when the Sun first appears in the morning is called this.
What is sunrise
On a summer day, the Sun’s path is higher in the sky; on a winter day, its path is like this
What is lower in the sky?
This season has the shortest days of the year, because the Sun is out for fewer hours.
What is winter
When the Sun is low in the sky, like in winter, shadows on the ground tend to be like this.
What are long?
The time when the Sun disappears below the horizon in the evening is called this
Sunset
Clue: When the Sun takes a higher path, it spends more time above the horizon. This makes the days feel like this.
What are longer
On December 21 in San Francisco, the Sun was up for about 9 hours. On June 21, it was up for about 13 hours. Tell which date is closer to winter and which is closer to summer.
What is: December 21 is closer to winter, and June 21 is closer to summer?
Imagine a photo taken at noon. The shadows are very short, and the Sun seems almost overhead. Which season is it most likely to be?
What is summer?
If sunrise is at 7:00 AM and sunset is at 7:00 PM, the length of the day in hours is this
12 hours
: In the sped‑up video, you weren’t supposed to watch the Sun move across one day. Instead, you were supposed to notice how its path changed over this longer period of time.
What is over the year
When the Sun rises earlier and sets later, the amount of daylight changes in this way.
What is there is more daylight (longer days
You see a bench in a picture. The Sun is low in the sky, and the shadow of the bench stretches far across the ground. What evidence from this photo could you use to argue it is winter
What is: the low Sun and the very long shadow, which both suggest a winter-like, low Sun path?
: In winter, the Sun might rise at 7:21 AM and set at 4:55 PM. Explain how this data shows a short day.
Correct response:
What is: the time between sunrise and sunset is only about 9 hours, which is fewer hours of daylight than other times of year
EXPLAIN: Because the Sun follows a lower path in the winter, the days are shorter.” Say what lower path has to do with the amount of daylight.
What is: a lower path means the Sun rises later and sets earlier, so it spends less time in the sky, which makes the days shorter
A scientist says, “The length of daylight can tell you the season.” Use what you know about summer and winter daylight to defend this statement.
What is: in summer, there are more hours of daylight, and in winter there are fewer hours, so the number of daylight hours helps you tell which season it is?
A student says, “I can tell the season just by seeing if there’s snow.” Explain why using the Sun and shadows might sometimes be a better clue than snow.
What is: not all places get snow, but everywhere has the Sun, and the Sun’s height and shadow length change in a pattern with the seasons, so those clues work in more places?
What is: Day A is summer because it has many more hours of daylight, and Day B is winter because it has fewer hours of daylight