1. FCAT Review – Earth/Moon/Sun System

2. What causes the Earth to have different seasons
(Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer)
during the year?

3. *Seasons are caused by the tilt of the Earth and its orbit around the Sun.

4. *As the Earth revolves around the Sun, the amount of solar energy hitting the Earth varies all across it.

5. Why does the Moon have a different appearance each night?
Moon Phases
Why does the Moon have a different appearance each night?

6. 1 - Half the moon is always lit by the Sun

7. 2 - As the Moon revolves (orbits) around the Earth, the amount of light we see on the Moon changes (increases or decreases.)

8. Waxing Moon Full Moon Waning Moon
(increasingly lit up) (decreasingly lit up)
Crescent Gibbous Gibbous Crescent

9. Eclipses
An eclipse occurs any time something passes in front of the Sun or Moon, blocking its light.

10. Lunar Eclipse
The Earth moves between the Sun and the Moon (Full Moon phase), blocking the Sun’s light, and causing the moon to darken.

11. Solar Eclipse- When the Moon casts a shadow on the Earth, causing the sun to appear dark.
The Moon (New Moon) comes between the Sun and Earth and casts a shadow on part of Earth

12. How a solar eclipse appears on Earth

13. Why Don’t We See Lunar Eclipses More Often?
Well, lunar eclipses don’t happen everyday because the Moon’s orbit is tilted. So, during most months, the Moon is above or below the Earth and doesn’t pass through the Earth’s shadow.

14. Earth’s Tides
What is a tide? The periodic rising and lowering of the Earth’s oceans.

16. LOW TIDE
HIGH TIDE

17. How do tides occur?

18. 1 - The Moon and the Sun’s gravitational force (gravity) pulls on the Earth.

19. 2 – This causes the oceans facing the Moon to bulge, raising the water level (a high tide)

20. 3 - The Moon is also pulling on the Earth’s lands, so the opposite side of Earth also has high tide.

21. 4 - In between the two high tides are the low tides.

23. Tide Chart for Jacksonville Beach, FL
Low Tide
High Tide
Friday Nov 13
4:23 AM
10:49 AM
5:12 PM
11:15 PM
Saturday Nov 14
5:09 AM
6:00 PM
Sunday Nov 15
12:24 PM
1:01 AM
11:34 AM
12:06 AM
6:06 AM
6:54 PM
Tides occur about every 6 ¼ hrs apart

24. 5 - As the Earth rotates, each location will have 2 high tides and 2 low tides each day, about 6 hours apart.