Original Project
Weather and Climate II: Seasonal Differences
Item CL030002: In the northern hemisphere, the maximum height the sun reaches in the sky is greater in March than in January.
A student who lives in the United States observes the sun moving across the sky during January, and she sees that the highest the sun gets during the day is just above the top of a building across the street from her house.
If she observes the sun from the same place in March, what would she see?
- The sun would also reach the top of the building in March.
- The sun would reach higher than the top of the building in March.
- The sun would not reach as high as the top of the building in March.
- Whether or not the sun would reach the top of the building in March would depend on where in the United States she lives.
Answer Choice |
Overall |
Grades |
Gender |
Primary Language |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 2306 |
6–8 n = 1226 |
9–12 n = 1068 |
Male n = 1138 |
Female n = 1084 |
English n = 1906 |
Other n = 268 |
||
| A. | The sun would also reach the top of the building in March. | 19% | 17% | 21% | 19% | 19% | 17% | 19% |
| B. | The sun would reach higher than the top of the building in March. | 44% | 43% | 45% | 44% | 44% | 46% | 38% |
| C. | The sun would not reach as high as the top of the building in March. | 18% | 18% | 17% | 17% | 18% | 17% | 22% |
| D. | Whether or not the sun would reach the top of the building in March would depend on where in the United States she lives. | 19% | 22% | 17% | 20% | 19% | 20% | 21% |