PBS LearningMedia: Seasons on Earth

Using this Lesson Plan, students study satellite data and explore an example of long-term climate change to learn about the seasons, changes in climate, and the role of Earth’s tilted axis.  Earth’s seasons—the annual climate changes that different locations experience—result from a combination of Earth’s orbit around the Sun and the tilt of Earth’s axis. Understanding why the Earth has seasons is one of the most difficult concepts for students to understand, and it is often a battle to get them to abandon their preconceived ideas.