Ever wondered why we have day and night? It all has to do with how the Earth spins on its axis! Our planet is constantly rotating, kind of like how a top spins around. It is this movement that gives us day and night—pretty cool, right?
The Earth’s axis is an invisible line that goes through the centre of our planet, from the North Pole to the South Pole. The Earth is tilted slightly on this axis, which is really important for things like seasons (but we’ll save that for another time!). As the Earth spins around its axis, we get our daily cycle of day and night.
The Earth takes 24 hours to complete one full spin on its axis. When the part of the Earth where you live is facing the Sun, this place will be lit up and experience daytime. At the same time, the part of the Earth facing away from the sun will be in the dark and experience night time.
As the Earth rotates, places gradually move from day to night and night to day. This means different parts of the world have day and night at different times. For example, when it’s daytime in the UK, it’s nighttime in Australia!
You might think the Sun is moving across the sky, but it’s actually the Earth doing all the work! As our planet rotates, it looks like the Sun rises in the east the morning, travels across the sky, and then sets in the west in the evening. But really, we’re just spinning away from the Sun’s light.
Use visual models like the day and night diagram below to help children understand both the rotation of the Earth around the Sun and how the Earth spins on its axis.
This diagram shows how the Earth's rotation on its axis causes different parts of the world to experience day and night at different times. When one side of the Earth faces the Sun, it's day; when it turns away, it's night!
