Rotation: day and night
In the morning the Sun is in one part of the sky, and at lunchtime it is in another. The Sun is not moving: the Earth is! The Earth has two different movements: rotation and revolution. In this lesson we look at rotation.
The Earth spins on its axis
The axis is an imaginary line through the Earth, from the North Pole to the South Pole. It is not straight up: it is tilted at an angle of 23.5°. The Earth spins around its axis like a spinning top. This movement is called rotation, and it takes 24 hours: one whole day.
It is day on the side of the Earth that is facing the Sun and receives sunlight.
It is night on the side of the Earth that is turned away from the Sun and does not receive sunlight.
If you look at the Earth from above the North Pole, it rotates anticlockwise: from west to east. That is why the Sun always rises in the east and sets in the west.
In a dark room, switch on a torch (that is the Sun). Hold a ball or an orange (that is the Earth) and turn it slowly. Stick a small sticker on Spain. When is it day in Spain? When is it night?