Why does it get dark at night?
The Earth is a giant ball that spins around and around, like a slow top.
Pip’s answer
- The Earth is a giant ball that spins around and around, like a slow top.
- When your side of the Earth faces the sun, it is daytime.
- When your side turns away from the sun, it gets dark. That is night, buddy!
- One whole spin takes one whole day.
Try it together
Can you turn around slowly, like the spinning Earth?
For grown-ups
Earth rotates once on its axis about every 24 hours. The half facing the sun has daytime and the half facing away has night. The sun does not actually move around us; it only seems to rise and set because we are turning.
Ask your child: When it is nighttime here, who might be having breakfast on the other side of the world?
More questions kids ask
- 🌓Why does the moon change shape?
- ⭐Why do stars twinkle?
- 😴Why do we need to sleep?
- 🌕Why doesn’t the moon fall down?
- 🚀How do rockets go to space?
- ☀️Why is the sun so hot?
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