Seasons Are Different Around the World

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

• When you think about the winter season, do you usually think about snow?
• When you think about the season of fall, do you usually think about cool temperatures and the leaves changing color?
• But what holidays do you think about for each season? Do you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah in the winter or the summer?

That depends on where you live in the world!

Check out the two videos below.

• What do you notice about the seasons in each one?

• Did you notice how the seasons in the second video happened at the opposite times of the year from the seasons in the first video?
• Why do you think that happens?
• Why are the seasons so different in different parts of the world?

Well, it all has to do with where you live on this great, big planet of ours. The earth is divided in half by an imaginary line called the equator, creating the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere.

Watch the following video to learn more about why seasons change and what the hemispheres have to do with those changes.

Seasons happen when the earth's position, or tilt, changes in relation to the sun.

Read What Causes the Seasons?.

• Where must you live if you have summer in December?

That's right, the Southern Hemisphere! Think back to the songs from the beginning of the lesson.

• If Australia has winter in July like the song says, where must Australia be located?

Click on the correct hemisphere below.

There are also places in the world where the seasons do not change very much at all. In Kenya, for example, there isn't snow in the winter and leaves don't change color in the fall. Instead, there are rainy seasons and dry seasons. The temperatures in this part of the world are usually mild and warm all year long.

• Where do you think Kenya might be located?

If you guessed near the equator (on the continent of Africa), you are correct! Areas of the world closest to the equator do not experience all four seasons because the tilt of the earth toward the sun stays the same.

Now that you know more about the seasons and how they change in different parts of the world, continue on to the Got It? section!