Summer Solstice — Why Days Get Longer

This lesson, Summer Solstice — Why Days Get Longer, teaches students why the Northern Hemisphere experiences its longest day around June 21. Students learn that seasons are caused by Earth’s 23.5-degree axial tilt, not by Earth being closer to the sun. The lesson explains how sun angle, daylight duration, and latitude work together to create longer summer days, more direct sunlight, and different seasonal patterns around the world. Students also analyze daylight data from the equator, New York, Fairbanks, and Stonehenge to understand why higher latitudes experience more dramatic changes in daylight.

What’s Included:

• Student article
• Lesson objective
• Application questions
• Data table and analysis
• Hypothesis builder
• Claim-Evidence-Reasoning activity
• Independent / dependent variable analysis
• Cause and effect map
• Multiple choice questions
• True / false questions
• Vocabulary practice
• Exit ticket
• Crossword puzzle
• Word search