Earth for Kids

The Earth

Hello Earth - About Our Home

With all of these every day familiar objects around us and with the vast sky above us, and the deep oceans beneath us, our home planet often feels quite large. Compared to us, it is very large. There is enough space for each of us, our families and friends, our pets, as well as trillions of other life forms to live and enjoy the various experiences of life. While to us, the Earth appears to be a vast wilderness, compared to other objects in the Universe it is actually quite small, in fact, it is so small, that you could say it is tiny.

Hello Earth - How Big Is The Earth?

As we compare the Earth with its larger neighbors however, we begin to see just how small it really is. The massive gas giant planets of our Solar System are many times larger than the tiny world that we inhabit. Notice the storm that is raging in the clouds on Jupiter. This storm is actually larger than our entire planet.

The Earth’s Movements

If the energy reaching the Earth each and every day is of the same intensity and strength, what causes the seasons that so many parts of our planet experience? Why are some parts of the year warm, some hot, and others very cold? If the Sun is continuously producing a constant unchanging amount of heat, shouldn’t the seasons always be the same? The changing seasons are caused by the movements of the Earth. There are two important movements that effect the Earth. The first, is the rotation of the Earth around an invisible axis. It takes the Earth about 24 hours to finish one complete rotation. The second important movement that effects the Earth is its revolution around the Sun. One revolution takes 365 ¼ days, or one year. Acting together, these two movements create variations in temperature, weather, and in the seasons

Understanding Time

There are three natural methods for measuring the passage of time. The first is the passage of day and night. As we have already learned, this is caused by the...