What to do with this activity?

Our year is divided into four seasons - spring, summer, autumn and winter. But why do we get different weather at different times of the year? It's all to do with the way the earth travels around the sun, which takes 365 days, and how the earth spins at a slight tilt to the sun. Sometimes the earth is further away from the sun, and sometimes our angle to the sun is very low, making our weather cooler.

If your child would like to read more about why we have different weather in different seasons, here are two good links - Geography for kids and BBC Bitesize. Help your child's reading if there is something they don't understand.  

Notice with your child how:

1. In spring, new leaves sprout on plants and trees and birds start nesting.
2. In summer, the sun is highest in the sky and trees are in full leaf.
3. In autumn, the leaves change colour and fall off, and fruit like apples get ripe.
4. In winter, the trees are bare and the sun is low in the sky.

And enjoy the video "One year in 40 seconds" on the yellow activity link below. It's fantastic to see how the trees and weather change over four seasons dramatically speeded up.