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Topic: Weather and Climate II: Seasonal Differences

Below is a list of key ideas related to Weather and Climate II: Seasonal Differences. Select a key idea to see the sub-ideas, assessment items, results from our field testing, student misconceptions, and NGSS statements for that idea.

The maximum height that the sun reaches in the sky at any place varies over the course of the year, and how it varies depends on how far the place is from the tropical region.

The annual rise and fall of air temperature at any place and the differences in the rise and fall in air temperatures between two places are explained by the amount of solar energy that reach those places.

The amount of time any place experiences daylight varies over the course of a year, and the farther a place is from the equator the greater the variation is.

Temperature variations in fluids such as air and water lead to currents that circulate the fluid, and this circulation transfers thermal energy from place to place in the fluid.

The transfer of thermal energy from one place to another by the movement of air in the atmosphere and water in the oceans increases the air temperature at some places and decreases the air temperature at other places.

The air temperature at any place depends on the amount of energy that is transferred to that place by sunlight, the amount of thermal energy transferred to it by currents in the ocean and atmosphere, how high the place is above sea level, and how close it is to a large body of water.

The earth’s spherical shape causes differences in the intensity of sunlight and thus the amount of energy from sunlight to be greater at some places than at other places. Sunlight is most intense at the single point where the sun is directly overhead (90° angle to the earth’s surface).

As the earth turns, the intensity of the energy from sunlight striking a place rises and falls over the course of a day. The maximum intensity of the energy from sunlight striking a place is greater the closer the place comes to passing directly beneath the sun.

The orientation of earth's axis of rotation with respect to the sun changes as the earth moves around the sun.

Changes in the orientation of earth’s axis of rotation with respect to the sun over the course of a year causes the intensity of energy from the sun to be highest in the northern hemisphere when the north pole is tilted toward the sun and highest in the southern hemisphere when the south pole is tilted toward the sun.

Changes in the orientation of earth’s axis with respect to the sun over a year causes the length of daytime to be longer in the northern hemisphere when the north pole is tilted toward the sun and longer in the southern hemisphere when the south pole is tilted toward the sun.

As the earth moves around the sun over the course of a year, the orientation of earth’s axis with respect to the sun changes and the latitude of the place that is directly beneath the sun changes. This shift causes the intensity of energy from the sun that any place receives to change over the course of a year.

As the earth moves around the sun over the course of a year, the orientation of earth’s axis with respect to the sun changes. This shift causes the length of daytime and nighttime at a place to change and the amount of energy the place receives from the sun to change over the course of a year.

The seasonal changes in air temperature are caused by changes in the intensity of energy from sunlight and changes in the number of hours that energy from sunlight is transferred, both of which are brought about by earth's annual movement around the sun.