Science Assessment ~ Items ~ CL117001

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A student observes that in the middle of the day the Sun is higher in the sky in the summer than in the winter. Which of the following statements explains her observation?

In the middle of the day in the summer, the place where the Sun is directly overhead is closer to where she lives than it is in the winter.
The angle of the Earth’s axis relative to the plane of the Earth’s path around the Sun is different in summer than it is in the winter.
The difference is not caused by changes in the angle of the Earth’s axis. It is caused by changes in the Sun’s position in the solar system.
The Sun does not actually rise higher in the sky in the summer. The difference she observed is caused by the days getting longer in the summer than the winter.

Details
Performance
NGSS

Topic: Weather and Climate II: Seasonal Differences
Correct Answer: A

Distribution of Responses

Chart showing distrubtion of responses for Item CL117001

Students Responding Correctly

Group	Correct	Total	Percent
Overall	255	1022	25%
Grades
6–8	137	549	25%
9–12	117	466	25%
Gender
Male	133	514	26%
Female	114	481	24%
Primary Language
English	229	897	26%
Other	20	95	21%

View data table

Disciplinary Core Ideas: ESS1.A Patterns of the apparent motion of the sun, the moon, and stars in the sky can be observed, described, predicted, and explained with models.

Science Assessment

Item CL117001: At a given place, the sun is higher in the sky in the middle of the day in summer than in winter because that place is closer to where the sun is directly overhead in the summer than it is in the winter.