WHAT'S THE WEATHER LIKE IN YOUR CITY?

It is interesting to see our islands from above, isn't it? This picture probably represents one of the main characteristics of life in the Canary Islands: the weather. People normally say we are in Spring all year round. But, what are the seasons? What makes the change of seasons happen? There are many myths (see some here), but we now know what the reason is. In the National Geograpics web page they state that "the Earth rotates on an axis that is tilted. In other words, our planet never stands upright—it is always leaning to the side. The direction of this lean never changes. As the Earth travels along its orbit, it sometimes leans toward the sun and sometimes away from the sun".

To get a visual impression of the phenomenon, "point at an static object in the classroom and walk in a circle around a friend while he/she remains static. Remember to keep pointing at the object; this way you are always pointing in the same direction, no matter how you move. As you "orbit your friend", observe that the direction you are pointing sometimes goes directly toward your friend, sometimes directly away from him and sometimes to the side; the Earth behaves in the same way toward the sun." (slightely adpated from http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/activities/07/season.html).

So, what is solstice? Check the difinition in the Simple English Wikipedia (click here) and try to draw the phenomenon in your notebooks. Do the same with equinox (click here).

Now, let's go to National Geographics again: find and click on the text "cosmic map." We'll do this on the board.