What causes seasonal changes?

Earth’s tilt makes seasons happen, it's like Earth is always leaning a little as it goes around the Sun.

Imagine you're sitting on a chair that spins slowly while you lean to one side. Sometimes your face is closer to the light, and sometimes it's farther away. That’s what happens with Earth and the Sun.

Earth takes about 365 days to go all the way around the Sun, that’s a year. But Earth isn’t standing straight up while it moves; it’s tilted at an angle, like a chair that leans back. When one side of Earth is leaning toward the Sun, that part gets more sunlight and is warmer, that's summer. The other side is leaning away, so it gets less light and is cooler, that's winter.

As Earth keeps spinning around the Sun, the tilt means different parts get to be closer or farther from the Sun at different times. So when you're in summer, someone on the opposite side of Earth might be in winter, like two friends playing a game where one gets more sun while the other gets less! Earth’s tilt makes seasons happen, it's like Earth is always leaning a little as it goes around the Sun.

Imagine you're sitting on a chair that spins slowly while you lean to one side. Sometimes your face is closer to the light, and sometimes it's farther away. That’s what happens with Earth and the Sun.

Earth takes about 365 days to go all the way around the Sun, that’s a year. But Earth isn’t standing straight up while it moves; it’s tilted at an angle, like a chair that leans back. When one side of Earth is leaning toward the Sun, that part gets more sunlight and is warmer, that's summer. The other side is leaning away, so it gets less light and is cooler, that's winter.