Seasons and Tides 5/3

Every year, every month, sometimes every day, they happen, and we usually don’t even notice. The seasons change like they always do, the tides go up and down as usual, and we will occasionally see the sun or moon eclipse. But we don’t really know what causes the seasons, tides and eclipses we see, and it all happens around us every day.

Tides
There are two high tides and two low tides every day. In the diagram of the Earth (below), the two blue bulges on the sides are called tidal bulges. As we pass through the tidal bulges, we experience a high tide.

One of the tidal bulges always points towards the moon, and the other points away from the moon. These bulges are the result of the moon’s gravitational pull on the Earth. Because the Earth has a gravitational pull of its own, most of the things on the planet are not influenced by the moon’s pull. However, the liquid water of the ocean is less influenced by the Earth’s gravity and is pulled slightly towards the moon. The moon’s gravity pulls the water towards and away from the moon.

When the tide is extremely high and the tide is extremely low, it is called a spring tide. When there is less of a difference between the heights of the tides, they are called neap tides. Neap tides occur when the gravity of the sun and moon pull on the Earth’s surface at a ninety degree angle. Spring tides occur when they pull in the same direction or in opposite directions.

Seasons

Seasons happen because of the Earth’s tilt on its axis. The Earth is tilted at a 23.5 degree angle on the axis and rotates around the sun. The Earth is split in half by the equator, the invisible line that wraps around the center. North of the equator is the Northern hemisphere, and south of it is the Southern hemisphere.

When the sun’s energy hits the Earth’s surface, most of it is absorbed by the equator. The North and South poles absorb the least, which is why they are so cold. It is colder at the poles that at the equator because more sunlight and solar energy reaches the equator than the poles. There is always a pole that is facing away from the sun and cannot reach them to give them light and warmth. The other pole cannot be reached because the equator is always facing the sun.

The seasons are caused by the Earth’s rotation around the sun and how it is tilted. No matter what season is going on in the Northern hemisphere, it is always the opposite in the Southern hemisphere and vice versa.

If it is winter in the north, it would be summer in the south. No matter what season it is, they are always opposites.

S&EP: Models
While studying how the seasons changed, it was helpful for me to refer to a model to see how it worked. The model I have constructed below shows how the seasons can be determined in any hemisphere in any position. For me, this was helpful because I could relate the amount of sunlight each hemisphere was getting with the season the was going on in each hemisphere.

This model helped me understand because I noticed that more sunlight can reach different areas better, which would mean that spring or summer would be in that position.

XCC Patterns
The seasons follow patterns often, and so do the tides. They follow the moon phases. The seasons follow with the Earth’s rotation and its tilt, which is why each season starts in roughly the same spot every year. The equinoxes and solstices are in the same months, because the seasons follow the same pattern. The Earth continues rotating in the same pattern, and the seasons follow with it.