Skip to content
Your progress

Checking your sign-in…

Who's learning?

Each profile keeps its own read lessons, badges, streak, and practice scores on this device.

Lesson 4 of 13

Where a year came from

Show on a big screen

5 min

Text size

Summer comes. Then the rains. Then winter. Then summer again. How long is one round, or cycle?

The Earth starts here.
Step 1 of 3
  1. The Earth starts here.
  2. Half a year later it is on the far side.
  3. It is back at the start. That took about 365¼ days (365 and a quarter).

New word

  • Year — the time for one cycle of seasons.

The rule

The Earth goes once round the Sun in about 365¼ days. During this time the seasons go through one cycle. That cycle is a .

Watch out!

Day, month and are three different cycles. The Earth spins. The Moon goes round the Earth. The Earth goes round the Sun.

Match each unit of time to its cycle.

Loading lab…

Try the lab to finish this lesson.