Chapter 02: Section 01: Our Planet, Earth

Earth and the Sun The Earth, the sun, the planets, and the stars in the sky are all part of a galaxy, or family of stars. –Our galaxy is called the Even though the sun is about 93 million miles away, it provides heat and light.

Earth and the Sun Earth travels around the sun in a nearly circular Earth takes 365 ¼ days, or one year, to complete one

Understanding Days and Nights Earth circles the sun Earth turns on its Earth’s takes about 24 hours. As Earth turns towards the sun the sun appears to rise.

Earth rotates toward the east, so the day starts earlier in the east. The time difference is just a few seconds per mile. So, governments have divided the world into standard time zones. Time Zones

Seasons and Latitudes The axis of Earth is tilted relative to its orbit. At the summer solstice, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted farthest toward the sun. At the winter solstice, the Northern Hemisphere is tilted farthest from the sun.

The area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn are called the low latitudes. The areas above the Artic Circle and below the Antarctic Circle are the high latitudes. The areas between are the middle latitudes. Latitudes

Our galaxy is just one of the billions of galaxies in the universe. We call our galaxy the Milky Way because, in a dark night sky, away from city lights its billions of stars look like a trail of spilled milk. Milky Way

Orbit is the path one body makes as it circles around another.

Revolution is circular motion

Axis is an imaginary line through Earth between the North and South poles, around which Earth turns.

Rotation is a complete turn