FREE Equinox Worksheet and More Equinox Teaching Resources
Teachers, here is a FREE equinox worksheet written by a National Board Certified Teacher. I hope you and your students enjoy it!
The spring equinox presents a wonderful opportunity for a mini-lesson incorporating science, social studies, and (thanks to my worksheet) reading comprehension. A basic lesson on the equinox helps students understand why we have seasons, and how the equinox marks the beginning of spring and fall. If you have time, teach students about cultural traditions surrounding the equinox. (St. Patrick’s Day and Easter immediately come to mind—read this article for more details.)
To help students remember the difference between equinox and solstice—and which seasons they mark—I explain that the solstice marks the beginning of “extreme” seasons: summer and winter. The equinox marks the beginning of “transitional” seasons: spring and fall. See if this helps your students!
Resources for Teaching the Equinox:
> Incorporate reading comprehension and introduce your equinox lessons with my FREE worksheet about the equinox.
> The YouTube video (shown above) is like an animated model that shows the earth’s orbit around the sun, so you can show students the equinox, solstice, and the seasons. You might mention that the earth spins one complete rotation on its axis 365 times during a year’s complete orbit around the sun. Explain to students that one day is the time it takes the earth to make one complete rotation around its axis. Note that the earth appears to be rotating more slowly in this video.
> This animated graphic shows the revolution/rotation very clearly. You can adjust the speed of the earth’s revolution around the sun while you explain to the class.
> Teach students about cultural traditions relating to the equinox with this article from About.com.
> The spring equinox is considered a global holiday by the United Nations. Read this article to learn more.
> A quick Google Image search for “equinox diagram” yields helpful visual aids for your students.
> Your students can learn about the equinox—and practice with articles—using this worksheet from insideout.net. Click on student’s worksheets for the pdf.