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Contributor: Lindsey Congalosi. Lesson ID: 13123
By now, you are probably aware of the sad fact that the earth doesn't actually revolve around you. What does it revolve around? What does revolve even mean? Read more to find out!
You plan-et!
Now that we've gotten the hilarity out of the way, let's take a closer look at the earth's never-ending trip around the sun.
Place something in the middle of your room. Walk around this item slowly, making as big of a circle as possible. When this becomes easy, start spinning as you continue to walk in the large circles. Be careful, don't bump into anything! Okay, sit down, you're making me dizzy.
Today we're going to discuss revolution.
No, not that kind of revolution. This kind:
You may have correctly guessed that you were spinning and circling to model the earth's movements.
There are two different ways that the earth is always moving - rotating and revolving. For more information about rotation, check out the Related Lesson found in the right-hand sidebar.
In astronomy, revolution means to move continuously around a central object. Rotation means to spin on a central axis. Be careful - outside of astronomy, these words may be used interchangeably.
You may have learned about rotation and revolution previously, but you probably didn't get the full story. Answer these quiz questions to identify any misconceptions you might have about the revolution of the earth.
Watch the first half of Science Video for Kids: Earth's Revolution & Rotation from Turtlediary to review what we've learned about revolution:
Now, move on to the Got It? section to test your knowledge and learn even more!
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