Grade 4 · Science · Unit 6 of 6
Earth, Moon & Sun
Days, seasons, moon and tides
What your child practises
How Earth's spin causes day and night, how its tilt and orbit cause seasons, the moon's phases, tides and eclipses, and how these patterns affect plants and animals.
NWT Curriculum learning standard: Earth's rotation and revolution (day and night, seasons); phases of the moon; tides; eclipses
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Put the waxing moon in order, from new moon to full moon.
- 🌕full moon
- 🌔waxing gibbous
- 🌓first quarter
- 🌒waxing crescent
- 🌑new moon
new moon → waxing crescent → first quarter → waxing gibbous → full moon
Hint: Waxing means growing: the lit part gets bigger each night, from a thin crescent to a half to more than half (gibbous), then full.
Question 2
Is it caused by Earth spinning or Earth orbiting the sun? Tap an item, then tap its basket.
Sort into: 🔄 Earth spinning (rotation) · ☀️ Earth orbiting the sun (revolution)
- 🌅the sun seems to rise in the east
- 🌃day and night
- 🌌different star patterns in winter and summer
- 🐦birds migrating every autumn
- ⭐stars seem to move across the night sky
- 🍂the four seasons
🔄 Earth spinning (rotation): the sun seems to rise in the east, day and night, stars seem to move across the night sky · ☀️ Earth orbiting the sun (revolution): different star patterns in winter and summer, birds migrating every autumn, the four seasons
Hint: One spin (rotation) takes a day, so it causes daily patterns. One trip around the sun (revolution) takes a year, so it causes yearly patterns.
Question 3
In which month are the days longest?
Hours of daylight (rounded) in a city in southern Canada - March
- September
- June
- December
June
Hint: Find the tallest bar. Summer days are long!
Question 4
During a solar eclipse, what blocks the sun's light from reaching part of Earth?
- ☁️a cloud
- 🌍Earth's shadow
- 🪐another planet
- 🌑the moon
🌑 the moon
Hint: In a solar eclipse, the moon passes between the sun and Earth.
Question 5
Why does the sun seem to rise in the east?
🌅- The sun moves from east to west around Earth
- The moon pushes the sun up
- The sun is closer to the east
- Earth spins toward the east
Earth spins toward the east
Hint: The sun isn't moving across our sky. Earth is turning, carrying us toward the east to meet the sun each morning.
Question 6
Which phase of the moon is this? (as seen from Canada)
🌘- full moon
- waning crescent
- third quarter
- waning gibbous
waning crescent
Hint: Waning means shrinking. A thin sliver lit on the left is a waning crescent.