Success Homeschool

Year 8 Science · Seasons, Moon phases and tides

Name: ______________________

Date: ____________

1. What causes Earth's seasons?
- ☐ (a) Earth's changing distance from the Sun
- ☐ (b) The tilt of Earth's axis as it orbits the Sun
- ☐ (c) The Moon blocking sunlight
- ☐ (d) The Sun getting hotter and colder
2. When it is summer in Australia, what season is it in Japan (Northern Hemisphere)?
- ☐ (a) Summer
- ☐ (b) Spring
- ☐ (c) Winter
- ☐ (d) Autumn
3. Which phase comes straight after the full Moon?
- ☐ (a) Waning gibbous
- ☐ (b) New Moon
- ☐ (c) Waxing crescent
- ☐ (d) First quarter
4. What mainly causes ocean tides?
- ☐ (a) Wind
- ☐ (b) Earthquakes
- ☐ (c) Rivers flowing into the sea
- ☐ (d) The Moon's gravity
5. Why do we see phases of the Moon?
- ☐ (a) Earth's shadow covers part of the Moon each night
- ☐ (b) We see different amounts of the Moon's sunlit half as it orbits Earth
- ☐ (c) The Moon makes less light some nights
- ☐ (d) Clouds block parts of the Moon
6. In which month does winter begin in Australia?
7. About how many days does a full cycle of Moon phases take? (whole number)
8. Most coasts have how many high tides in about a day? (number)

Answer sheet

1. The tilt of Earth's axis as it orbits the Sun — The tilt changes how directly sunlight hits each hemisphere and how long days are.
2. Winter — The hemispheres have opposite seasons.
3. Waning gibbous — After full, the lit part shrinks (wanes): waning gibbous comes next.
4. The Moon's gravity — The Moon's gravity pulls the oceans into bulges; the Sun has a smaller effect.
5. We see different amounts of the Moon's sunlit half as it orbits Earth — Half the Moon is always lit; phases depend on how much of that half faces us. Earth's shadow only matters during a lunar eclipse.
6. june — Australian winter is June, July and August.
7. 29 — The cycle takes about 29.5 days.
8. 2 — Earth rotates through two tidal bulges, so most places get two high tides.