In this topic you will learn about how Earth moves.

Every day, the Sun appears to come up and go down. However, the Sun does not move past Earth. Instead, Earth turns, or rotates. As Earth rotates, different parts of Earth move through the Sun's light and then out of the light. This causes day and night. One complete rotation takes 24 hours.

Earth rotates on an imaginary line called an axis. The North Pole is at one end of the axis. The South Pole is at the other end. Earth's axis is tilted, not straight up and down.

Earth also revolves, or moves in a circular path, around the Sun. The path that Earth follows around the Sun is its orbit. It takes 365 days for Earth to travel around the Sun.

Because Earth's axis is tilted, the North Pole and South Pole usually do not receive the same amount of sunlight at the same time. This causes the seasons. When the North Pole is tilted toward the Sun, the Sun's rays strike that part of Earth directly. When this happens, it is summer in the northern part of Earth. When the North Pole is tilted away from the Sun, the Sun's rays do not strike that part of Earth as directly. When this happens, it is winter in the northern part of Earth.

In summer, your part of Earth is tilted toward the Sun. This makes the Sun appear high in the sky. In winter, the Sun appears lower in the sky.