Year 1 · Science · 2 minutes
Day and night
The Earth spins once a day. Facing the Sun: day. Facing away: night.
Key terms
- Earth
- The giant ball we live on, which spins around once every day.
- Sun
- The bright star that shines on the Earth and gives us light in the day.
- Day
- The time when our side of the Earth is facing the Sun.
- Night
- The time when our side of the Earth is facing away from the Sun.
- Spin
- To turn around, like a very slow top, as the Earth does.
Transcript
G'day! Why does the sky get dark at night? Let's find out together!
This is our Earth. It's a giant ball, and we live on it. Here's Australia. That's us! The Earth is always spinning, like a very slow top. It spins around once every day.
Here is the Sun. It shines on the Earth. The side facing the Sun has day. The side facing away from the Sun has night.
Let's watch our friend in Australia. The Earth turns, and Australia turns away from the Sun. The sky gets darker and darker. It's night! The Earth keeps turning, and here comes the Sun. Good morning!
The Sun looks like it moves across the sky. But here's a secret. The Sun is not moving. We are! We're spinning with the Earth.
In the day, the Sun gives us light. We can see our shadows, and kookaburras laugh in the trees.
At night, we can often see the Moon and stars. We go to sleep. But possums and owls wake up! They look for food in the dark.
So, the Earth spins once every day. Facing the Sun, it's day. Facing away, it's night. Good night, everyone! And good morning, possum!
Sources
Every fact in the video, and where it comes from.
- 1spaceplace.nasa.gov/days/en
- Earth rotates (spins) on its axis about once every 24 hours, i.e. once a day.
- The Moon can often be seen at night (and sometimes in the day); stars are only visible when the sky is dark.
- 2education.sa.gov.au/our-learning-sa/learning-home-activities/scien…
- The half of Earth facing the Sun has day; the half facing away has night. As Earth rotates, each place has day and then night.
- 3australiancurriculum.edu.au/support-resources/background-information/scien…
- The Sun's daily path across the sky is apparent: it is caused by Earth's eastward rotation, not by the Sun moving around Earth.
- 4australian.museum/learn/animals/mammals/common-brushtail-possum
- The common brushtail possum is nocturnal; it rests by day in hollows or dark places and comes out at night to feed.
- 5australian.museum/learn/animals/birds/southern-boobook-owl
- The southern boobook (mopoke) is Australia's smallest and most common owl and hunts at night.
- 6australian.museum/learn/animals/birds/laughing-kookaburra
- The laughing kookaburra is active by day and is famous for its laughing call.
Image and sound credits
- Felt illustrations (possum, owl, kookaburra, child, gum tree, wattle) generated with AI
- Map data: Natural Earth (public domain)
- Music: generated with ACE-Step
- Voice: Gemini TTS
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