Study Guide for Earth Cycles, Water Cycle, and Moon Phases Test Test on: ____________________________ Know the following: The difference between Rotate (spin) and Revolve (move around something in a circular motion) How we get night and day – the Earth rotates on its axis once in a 24 hour period, the Earth always points to the North Star The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. We only see the side of the moon that is reflecting sunlight. The moon takes 29 days to complete its phases (one revolution around the Earth) Be able to label or draw the phases of the moon, see attached sheet. The moon revolving around the earth causes the moon phases. The four seasons and be able to explain what causes the different seasons – Earth’s tilt on its axis and the amount of sunlight received by a particular hemisphere. It takes one year for the Earth to revolve around the sun. When it is one season in the northern hemisphere it is the opposite season in the southern hemisphere – winter/summer, spring/fall. Be able to label a diagram of the water cycle –The cycle repeats over and over again. The water cycle starts when the sun warms the water. Evaporation is a liquid turning into a gas, condensation is a gas turning into a liquid and precipitation is rain, snow, sleet, or hail. A tide is the dramatic change in water level. Tides rise and fall 2 times in a 24-hour period. Tides are caused by the moon’s gravitational pull. We have high tides and low tides. In between high tides we have low tides.