The Seasons - Fourth Grade Level

Today we will discuss the seasons. You probably have heard people talk about the season of summer, winter, spring and fall. This means that a season is one of four times during the year. Around the United States the seasons may vary in length and around the world they vary when the occur. When it is winter in the United States it is summer in South America. You can probably describe the seasons where you live. In Florida it may seem like there is only a summer and winter season, but the season of spring and fall do exist in Florida, they are either shorter or very similar to each other.

The Earth is actually furthest from the sun when it is summer in the United States. The distance from the sun does have some effect but the tilt of the Earth has a much greater effect on seasons. The tilt of the Earth causes the sunlight to hit the Earth more directly in the summer and less directly in the winter. When the rays of sunlight hit the Earth with virtually no slant they are called direct rays and when there is a slant they are called indirect rays. The rays of sunlight spread over a larger area when they are indirect. When the tilt of the Earth is pointed more toward the sun it is summer in the part of the Earth pointed in that direction.

Your vocabulary then in this subject area: season, direct rays, indirect rays, summer, winter, spring, fall, tilt, Earth, orbit, distance. You might try taking a piece of paper and folding it into four sections and drawing a picture that shows each season in one section of the paper. Label each section with the name of the season you are showing in your picture. If you know how to write the name of the season in both English and Spanish go ahead and do this on your paper. Don't forget to put your name in the lower right corner of your paper.

You might want to write a short report about how the seasons were different for you in particular and especially if you have lived in other parts of the country or in other parts of the world. What holidays are in different seasons? What season would be the one we might plant crops? What season would be the one in which we might have long school vacation? What season would be the most fun? We might look for some songs to sing about the different seasons? What sports are played during different seasons? What kind of clothing is worn during different seasons? Does it make any difference to wear white during the summer and dark clothes in the winter? Is there a difference in the foods we eat and drink during different seasons? How does the season affect the rainfall in our location?

Note: These are some of the things that would be discussed in a typical fourth grade science class talking about the seasons. The goal is to remove the misconceptions that the distance from the sun is the cause of the seasons. Many adults may still hold this misconception. If you notice the questions listed attempt to integrate the subject of the seasons into other subject content areas. A teacher or a parent discussing seasons with their children may want to ask some of these questions to determine (assessment) how the child actually understands the topic.