Why Do We Have Seasons?

This is one of eight Physical Science displays on the second floor. Our warm and cold seasons are not caused by the earth moving closer or further from the sun, but rather by the earth's orientation with respect to the plane of its orbit about the sun. The earth's north-south axis is tilted about 23 degrees in comparison to the sun. When the earth is tilted towards the sun, the northern hemisphere gets more light; it is summer there, but winter in the southern hemisphere. The opposite occurs when the earth is tilted away from the sun. Models of the earth and moons show these relationships.

Models built by Jeanie McGowan