Earth Spins Like a Top

Lab Brief #2

🎯 Your mission

Run the experiment. Find out what really happens.

⚡ The twist

Nature loves to surprise the careful watcher.

What you'll learn

Day and night happen because the Earth spins like a top. One full spin takes 24 hours!

Key words

Earth
The planet we live on, the third one from the Sun.
night
The dark part of the day when the Sun is down.

Make a hypothesis first

Before you start: write down what you think will happen, and why.

Say your guess out loud — then find out if you were right.

Get ready

🧰 What you need

flashlight
ball (Earth)
small ball (moon)

⚠️ Safety first

Have an adult check your set-up before you start, and tidy everything away afterwards.

Step 1 of 4 · Read

Look at the new words. Can you say each one?

Step 2 of 4 · Do

Use a flashlight and a ball to show how the Earth's spin creates day and night.

Step 3 of 4 · Observe

Draw a picture of what you observe.

Step 4 of 4 · Record

Share your results with a partner.

Question 1 of 3

What causes day and night?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 2 of 3

What is the closest star to Earth?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Question 3 of 3

How long does it take Earth to go around the sun?

How sure are you?😐 maybe

Mind = blown

🔬 The more you look, the more nature shows you.

Nice work!

You got 0 of 3 right.

Next: The Moon's Phases All lessons

🎯

Next Smart Experiment

We'll pick an experiment that matches exactly how you're thinking right now.

✨ More to explore

🌍 Where you see this in real life: This shows up in your everyday life more than you'd think.

🏆 Stretch challenge (try it this week): Try one experiment in real life this week — even a tiny one.

👨‍👩‍👧 For the dinner table: “What's the most surprising thing you learned today?”

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