Utah Education Network
Uen: As the World Turns
Third graders use their bodies to act out the motions of earth.
NASA
National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Scijinks: Seasons
An explanation about the rotation of the Earth and why the Earth has seasons.
Math Is Fun
Math Is Fun: The Seasons
Learn about the four seasons, when they occur in the northern and southern hemispheres, and why the seasons change as the Earth rotates around the Sun.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Plix: Seasons
[Free Registration/Login Required] This site contains an animation showing how the seasons are produced by the tilt of Earth's rotating axis. Site also includes a short quiz over the topic of seasons.
NASA
Climate Kids: 10 Interesting Things About Earth
Discover 10 interesting things about Earth, including its shape, its seasons, rotation, Ice Ages, the Atacama Desert, gravity, changing sea levels, and the Moon.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: The Sun Is the Center of the Solar System
See what you know about the solar system by taking this brief interactive quiz and learning module.
Other
Nasa: Iss Earth Kam
Students get a whole new perspective of the world through images obtained from the International Space Station. Students can even request images to be taken through ISS EarthKAM. Activities and educator guides are provided.
Other
University of Windsor: Climates on a Rotating Earth
This site offers the text of a college lecture on the atmosphere, with information on the effect prevailing westerlies have on North America.
Smithsonian Institution
Encyclopedia Smithsonian: Foucault Pendulum
Provides a detailed description of the Foucault Pendulum and how it works. It was originally built to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Earth Science: Planets of the Solar System
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Examines the eight planets of our solar system and their orbits and rotation.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Mn Step: Rotation of the Earth
A KWL activity combined with a demonstration model. Pupils record their ideas and questions about why we have day and night. They then shine a flashlight (the Sun) on a rotating styrofoam ball (the Earth) and record their observations....
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Earth's Movements in Space
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart contains definitions for axis, rotation, revolution explanation of seasons and an assessment using Activotes.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Earth and Space Day and Night
[Free Registration/Login Required] This flipchart illustrates a view of the earth from space and how day and night happens.
McREL International
Mcrel.org: Planet Rotation [Pdf]
A worksheet regarding the axis of rotation within each of the planets. PDF
McREL International
Mc Rel: Earth's Axis [Pdf]
A worksheet regarding the path of the Sun around the Earth and the Earth's tilt on its axis.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Earth, Sun and Moon
[Free Registration/Login Required] In this unit children learn about the shapes and relative sizes of the Earth, Sun and Moon. Using models they learn how the three bodies move relative to each other and how these movements relate to...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Cosmology and Astronomy: Season Simulator
This season simulator takes Earth through an entire year cycle allowing the viewer to observe the tilt of the Earth and the intensity of the sunlight.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: What on Earth Is Spin?
Why is the spinning motion so special? Brian Jones details the dizzyingly wide array of ways that spinning affects our lives. [3:57]
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Earth Science: Uranus
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Describes the features of Uranus.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Earth Science: Uranus
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Describes the features of Uranus.
CK-12 Foundation
Ck 12: Earth Science: Venus
[Free Registration/Login may be required to access all resource tools.] Learn about the distinctive features of the planet Venus.
American Association of Physics Teachers
Com Padre Digital Library: Open Source Physics: Kepler System Model
This site from Open Source Physics offers a file with a simulation of Kepler's theory of planetary motion, tested with the Earth rotating around the sun and another planet of the user's choosing. The download requires Java.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Day and Night
[Free Registration/Login Required] In this flipchart students will understand how the Earth rotates during a 24 hour period giving us day and night.
University of Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin: Reasons for the Seasons
A brief explanation of the Earth's rotation around the Sun and how it relates to the amount of sunlight the Earth receives, and to the seasons. Includes two questions for students to respond to.