At the South Pole, summer days consist of 24 hours of sunlight while winter days consist of 24 hours of darkness. This is because the Earth's axis is tilted at 23.5º from the vertical as we have previously explained. On December 21st (the middle of winter in the northern hemisphere) the South Pole is tilted towards the Sun so that the region is constantly in daylight. On June 21st (the middle of summer in the northern hemisphere) the South Pole is tilted away from the Sun so that it is in constant darkness.
TRY THIS EXPERIMENT
Try this simple experiment to demonstrate the effect of the angle of the Sun's rays on temperature:
Fill two open shoeboxes with dark soil. Place a thermometer in each box and place them so that the Sun's rays strike one directly and the other at a low angle. Predict and measure the temperature difference.
Seasons
