The Solstices

There are many factors that affect an area's near surface temperature. One factor is the tilt of Earth's axis relative to the sun as it moves in its orbit around the Sun. These changes are due to the orientation of the tilted rotation axis with respect to the Sun. In this lesson, students will compare near surface temperature at the time of the solstices, the astronomical beginning for either summer or winter, in two different hemispheres using temperature data found on the MY NASA DATA Live Access Server (LAS). The data comes from NASA satellite observations. Educational levels: Middle school, High school