What are seasons?
The seasons are four different times during the year with different types of weather. The four seasons are called spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Seasons change throughout the year because of the way the earth moves. The earth orbits, or travels around, the sun. As it orbits, it spins on its own axis, too. Imagine there was a straight pole that went through the center of the earth, from the North Pole to the South Pole; this is the earth’s axis.
But the earth’s axis doesn’t go straight up and down. The earth actually tilts to the side, so as it rotates around the sun, half of the earth is leaning toward the sun and half is leaning away.
- Earth’s orbit,
- its rotation on its axis, and
- its tilt
are all reasons for the four season
Earth’s tilted axis causes the seasons.
Throughout the year, different parts of Earth receive the Sun’s most direct rays. So, when the North Pole tilts toward the Sun, it’s summer in the Northern Hemisphere. And when the South Pole tilts toward the Sun, it’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere.
