Science Assessment ~ Topics ~ Weather and Climate II: Seasonal Differences ~ Item CL029002 ~ Student Performance

One student lives at Place 1 and another student lives at Place 2 as shown below. They observe the sun as it moves across the sky during a day in the summer and a day in the winter.

As the students make their observations, how will the maximum height of the sun in the sky at Place 1 compare to the maximum height of the sun at Place 2 on those two days?

The maximum height of the sun will be lower at Place 1 than at Place 2 in the winter and higher in the summer.
The maximum height of the sun will be higher at Place 1 than at Place 2 in the winter and lower in the summer.
The maximum height of the sun will be lower at Place 1 than at Place 2 all year.
The maximum height of the sun will be the same at Place 1 and Place 2 all year.

Distribution of responses
Answer Choice		Overall	Grades		Gender		Primary Language
		n = 2162	6–8 n = 1169	9–12 n = 980	Male n = 1050	Female n = 1041	English n = 1874	Other n = 212
A.	The maximum height of the sun will be lower at Place 1 than at Place 2 in the winter and higher in the summer.	30%	29%	32%	31%	30%	31%	27%
B.	The maximum height of the sun will be higher at Place 1 than at Place 2 in the winter and lower in the summer.	31%	32%	30%	30%	31%	30%	35%
C.	The maximum height of the sun will be lower at Place 1 than at Place 2 all year.	23%	23%	24%	23%	24%	23%	21%
D.	The maximum height of the sun will be the same at Place 1 and Place 2 all year.	15%	17%	14%	16%	15%	15%	17%

Science Assessment

Item CL029002: For two places that are north of the tropical region, the maximum height of the sun in the sky is lower for the place that is farther north.