R1OFY59BBuQhz

How does the Sun illuminate the Earth?

Source: licencja: CC 0.

Link to lesson

Before you start you should know
  • that the tilt of the Earth's axis in combination with its orbit causes changes in the Sun's height above the horizon.

You will learn
  • what is the effect of the tilt in Earth's rotation axis on the creation of its climate zones;

  • mark the Earth's climate zones and their borders on the globe;

Rvf4OmMKHi4KU
Nagranie abstraktu

We already know that the length of day and night changes in Poland. Did you know that there are places in the world where the day and night are the same all year long? Do you know that at the poles for half a year the Sun does not go down, and for the next six months it does not rise at all?

Travelling around the Sun with a constant tilt in the axis of its rotation causes the Earth’s surface to be illuminated in different ways. On this basis, five climate zones on Earth can be distinguished. The zones have borders- tropics and polar zones, which are marked on maps and globes.

The most strongly illuminated and heated areas by the Sun are the tropicstropicstropics, including the centrally located equator that crosses it. In the tropics, almost everywhere, twice a year, (on the summer and winter solstices) the Sun rises to its zenith. When this happens, it lights and heats the surface of the Earth the strongest. Only at the borders of the tropics does the sun rise to its zenith once a year. Days and nights on the equator always last for 12 hours, and in the entire tropics the differences in the duration of them are small. Two temperate zonestemperate zonetemperate zones extend between The Tropic of Cancer and The Arctic Circle (in the northern hemisphere) and between The Tropic of Capricorn and The Antarctic Circle in the southern hemisphere. In these zones the Sun does not reach its zenith, and every day the duration of day and night changes.
The least illuminated and heated are the two polar zonespolar zonespolar zones the borders of which are the Arctic and Antarctic circles. In these zones there is a phenomenon called polar day, when for a long period of time the sun does not go down and glow low over the horizon 24 hours a day, and also polar night, when for a long period of time the Sun does not rise at all.

REMZmjyqd4bTS1
Grafika przedstawia kulę ziemską w kolorach brązowym, pomarańczowym, niebieskim. Zaznaczone są lądy oraz poziomymi pasami Strefy oświetleniowe. Na grafice są opisy: 1.tropics - is located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. In this zone, the Sun rises to it's zenith twice a year., 2. The temperate zone - north lies between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle. In this zone, the Sun never reaches it's zenith, there are seasons., 3. The temperate zone - south is located between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Arctic Circle of the South. In this zone, the Sun never reaches it's zenith, there are seasons., 4. Arctic zone - north is located between the Arctic Circle and the North Pole. In this zone there are polar days and nights. Their duration extends from one day (around the Arctic Circle) to half a year (at the pole)., 5. Antarctic zone - south is located between the Antarctic Circle and the South Pole. In this zone there are polar days and nights. Their duration extends from one day (around the Antarctic Circle) to half a year (at the pole).
Earth's climate zones
Source: GroMar Sp. z o.o., licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.
R1VOkraRfdz6Y
Exercise 1
Wersja alternatywna ćwiczenia: Choose the names of climate zones lying between the tropics and the polar zones. Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. subtropical, 2. equatorial zone, 3. intertropical, 4. tropics, 5. southern temperate zone, 6. northern temperate zone
RJSRMvRaImO0S
Exercise 2
Określ położenie: - biegun północny - strefa podbiegunowa północna - strefa umiarkowana północna - zwrotnik Raka - równik - zwrotnik Koziorożca - strefa międzyzwrotnikowa - koło podbiegunowe południowe
Source: GroMar Sp. z o.o., licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.

Summary

  • The tilting of the Earth's axis causes the creation of Earth’s climate zones.

  • We can distinguish 5 climate zones on Earth: the tropics, two temperate zones and two polar zones.

Keywords

tropics, polar zones, temperate zones

Glossary

tropics
tropics
R1730cdigo4KD
Nagranie słówka: tropics

strefa międzyzwrotnikowa – jedna ze stref  oświetlenia Ziemi położona między zwrotnikiem Raka a zwrotnikiem Koziorożca

polar zones
polar zones
R1Vv2unA97lSg
Nagranie słówka: polar zones

strefa podbiegunowa – strefa oświetlenia Ziemi położona za kołem podbiegunowym

temperate zone
temperate zone
RfknEfJ0MzrUz
Nagranie słówka: temperate zone

strefa umiarkowana – strefa oświetlenia Ziemi położona między zwrotnikiem a kołem podbiegunowym