The weather is not always the same. Sometimes it is sunny, sometimes rainy or cloudy, sometimes snowy. We know that the weather is not the same in different places. Now, let's think about if the weather is the same trough the whole year. Is it always sunny throughout the year? Or is it raining the whole year?
The answer to these questions will be no. The weather is changing all the time. Also, we know that at a particular time of the year is cold or hot, and that lasts for some time.
So as we can see, the weather, nature, environment, they are not the same trough the whole year. Every part of the year has its beauties, which makes one unique from the others.
Gina, Mark, Mike, and Dave are four best friends that are in the same class. Their teacher asked them to tell about their favorite time of the year and to say why they like it the most. Let's see what are their answers.
| Gina |  |
I like spring because I can go hiking in the mountains and pick flowers. |
| Mark |  |
I like summer because I like the beach and swimming. |
| Mike |  |
I like autumn because I enjoy walking in my boots on rainy days. |
| Dave |  |
I like winter because I like skiing, and Snowball fights, which are my favorite! |
What is your favorite part of the year and why?
Summer, spring, autumn, and winter, are four parts of the year. They are called SEASONS. The seasons, one by one, make one whole year. And then again from the beginning. Each of them occurs at the same time every year. But, why are the seasons happening at the same time every year, and why are they so different?
As you can realize, in this lesson, we are going to learn about SEASONS.
To better understand the seasons we will need to learn something about the Earth, what are the Earth's hemispheres, and what are the North pole and South pole.
The seasons are different times in the year with different types of weather and different amount of light. However, the dates when the seasons begin and end vary in different places.
Seasons are caused because of the Earth's changing relationship to the Sun. The Earth travels around the Sun. That travel lasts one year or 365 days. As the Earth travels around the Sun, the amount of light each area of the planet receives from the Sun varies in length.
Let's see how the relationship between the Earth and the Sun makes the seasons. To find out that we will need to learn what is the north pole, and what are hemispheres of Earth?
The North Pole is the point that is farthest north on the planet Earth. It is one of the two points on which the axis of Earth turns. The axis is an imaginary line that passes through the north pole, center, and south pole of the Earth, and it is tilted.
The hemispheres are halves of the Earth. We get the halves by dividing the Earth by imaginary lines. With one of them, called the Equator, the Earth is divided into two hemispheres, northern and southern.
When the North pole tilts toward the Sun:
When the North pole tilts away from the Sun:
Between summer and winter, autumn and spring occur.
Some of the countries in the Southern Hemisphere are Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Madagascar, Bolivia, Zambia, Angola, Peru, Fiji, and so on.
Some of the countries in the Northern Hemisphere are Russia, Italy, Canada, China, the United States, India, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Sudan, and so on.
That means, when it is summer in Australia, it is winter in Italy.
The Northern Hemisphere experiences more direct sunlight during May, June, and July, as the hemisphere faces the Sun. The same is true of the Southern Hemisphere in November, December, and January.
June, July, and August are the warmest months in the Northern Hemisphere while December, January, and February are the warmest months in the Southern Hemisphere.
Typically, there are four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, winter.
Challenge for you: Find out if there can be snowfall on Christmas in Australia.
Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four seasons, that comes after winter and it is before summer. Spring is the symbol of rebirth. When it is Spring in the Northern Hemisphere it is Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. In spring, the Earth's axis is tilted toward the sun, increasing the number of daylight hours and bringing warmer weather. Spring is the time when trees begin to grow and reproduce and flowers bloom. It is very colorful in nature. In many parts of the world, it rains for hours. This helps the plants grow. Animals become active in spring, they wake from winter sleep. Also for most animals, spring is the season when they produce offspring.
Summer is one of the four Earth's seasons, that goes after spring and it is just before autumn. At this time of the year, days are warm, hot, and long. Nights in this season are the shortest. Sunshine, summer clothes, the beach - these remind us of summer, together with the warm weather, the school vacation, and the endless fun. It's the perfect time for outdoor activities. In summer are present thunderstorms, which are a very important phenomenon. They help nature to survive in this hot period. That is how the crops will grow better and later give the harvest.
When summer ends, autumn comes. Another name for autumn is fall. At the beginning of autumn, it is still warm, but as days pass, the weather becomes colder. In autumn the amount of time it is light becomes less, and the days are getting shorter. Rain is common in autumn. Leaves on the trees become yellow, orange, red, and brownish. They start to fall off the trees. When you walk, you can hear the sound of the fallen leaves under your feet. In autumn plants stop making food, and then farmers work on their fall harvest by collecting a reserve of crops. Animals prepare for the long months ahead by storing food. Also, some of them go into a deep sleep during winter (like bears), so they must create cozy spaces to stay. In autumn, the birds migrate south. To migrate means moving from one place to another for a longer period of time. When autumn is preparing to go, winter is on the way to come.
Winter is the coldest season of the year. It occurs after autumn and before spring each year. There's a lot going on during the winter months though, whether it be temperature, animal, or plant-related! In winter we have colder weather, sometimes snow and frost. The farther an area lies from the equator, the colder temperatures it experiences. The thing that brings the biggest joy in the winter is the snow. In winter, the days are shorter and the nights are longer. We enjoy our homes because outside it is cold. But what about animals? Do you know how they survive this coldest time of the year? There are 3 ways. One way is by moving from colder to warmer places. Another is by adapting to cold temperatures, for instance, they may grow a thicker coat, or their fur may change color so they blend in better with the snow. The third way is when the animal’s body drops into a special kind of deep sleep. Their systems slow down to preserve energy. Bears are such animals. When the winter is on its end, the spring is coming again.
Challenge for you: Find out how the deep sleep of the animals during the winter is called!!!
Not all countries in the world have four seasons. There are countries that have very mild seasons. Those are countries that are near to the Equator (the line that divides the Earth into the northern and southern hemispheres). The weather in these countries stays almost the same temperature all year round. The reason the seasons don't change as much as in other countries is that the middle doesn't tilt very much. As a result, many equatorial cultures recognize two seasons, wet and dry. Some of the countries that lie along the Equator, and are experiencing only wet and dry seasons are Maldives, Indonesia, Somalia, Ecuador, and so on.
But, some countries, like India, experience not four, but six seasons. Each season is two months long. They are named as:
The seasons somewhere can be very extreme. That is happening in the North Pole and the South Pole. As we already said that the North pole is one of the two points where Earth's axis of rotation intersects its surface, the South Pole is the other, opposite point, and it is the southernmost point on the surface of Earth.
Now you have learned:
Have you found the answers to the challenges from the above? Well, here they are!
1. Challenge for you: Find out if there can be snowfall on Christmas in Australia.
Answer: In Australia, there is no snowfall on Christmas because Christmas is in summer.
2. Challenge for you: Find out the term to describe the deep sleep of the animals during the winter.
Answer: The deep sleep of the animals during the winter is called hibernation.
What you will need for this activity? A globe or map of the world, paper, and pen.
1. Find your country on the globe.
2. Figure out on which hemisphere do you live, Southern, or Northern, and how close do you live to the Equator as well as North and South Pole.
3. From that, try to figure out how many seasons are there in your country, using the knowledge from this lesson.
4. State the current season in your place.
5. Knowing what is the order of seasons, predict which season is coming next, and write down why do you like that season.
This is what the activity looks like for my place:
Do you see the black spot on the globe? That is the place I live in. It is in the Northern hemisphere, and not too close to the Equator. It is not too close to the North pole too. This means my place has the typical four seasons, spring, summer, autumn, and winter. It is now July in my place, and it is summer. That means autumn will come next. What do I like the most about autumn? I really enjoy walks in nature, especially when the fallen leaves crack under my foot.
