Science Common Sense

1834 - Why do daytime and nighttime lengths at different latitudes change with the seasons.

Imagine the Earth as a big ball. It rotates on its side as it moves around the sun. This means different parts of the Earth tilt towards or away from the sun throughout the year.

When a part of the Earth is tilted towards the sun, it gets more sunlight and has longer days. This is why daytime is longer in summer.

When it's tilted away from the sun, it gets less sunlight and has longer nights. This is why nighttime is longer in winter.

People closer to the equator (middle of the Earth) get pretty equal amounts of sunlight throughout the year, so their day and night lengths don't change as much.

But people closer to the poles (top and bottom of the Earth) get a lot more sunlight variation, so their day and night lengths change a lot with the seasons.