1. Cycles Study Guide Name: ____________________
The Day, The Month, The Year Date: ____________________
Period: ____________________
The Day:
1. Which direction will your shadow point at sunrise? Noon? Sunset?
2. How did the sundial inspire the hands of a clock?
3. What are constellations? Name a famous constellation?
4. How is the “behavior” of the stars and moon similar to that of the sun?
5. Describe how the Big Dipper can be used to mark the passage of night.
6. How is the motion of the stars overhead an “illusion?”
7. Why does the North Star appear motionless?
8. What is twilight?
The Month:
1. Towards what does the moon’s bright side always face?

2. 2. Towards which direction does the moon appear to move?
3. How long is a lunar month?
4. At which phase is the moon “invisible?”
5. What causes earthshine?
6. In which part of the sky is the First Quarter moon located at sunset?
7. What is the moon’s gibbous phase?
8. At which phase is the moon directly opposite the sun?
9. When is the moon visible in the morning sky?
10. In what part of the sky is the Last Quarter moon located at sunrise?
11. What phase will occur when the waning crescent moon approaches and meets the
sun?

3. 12. How are the calendar months related to the moon’s cycle?
13. What are the dark patches on the moon named?
14. List two types of calendars.
15. What is waxing and waning?
The Year:
1. Describe the height of the noon sun during the summer and winter.
2. Where along the horizon does the sun rise in the
• Spring
• Fall
• Summer
• Winter?
3. On what days are the lengths of day and night equal?
4. How long is a solar year?
5. In which season is the earth’s axis pointed towards the sun? Away from the sun?

4. 6. When does sunlight strike both poles of the earth simultaneously?
7. What is the ecliptic? The zodiac?
8. Where is the sun at the spring equinox? Autumnal equinox?
9. What is the longest day of the year? The shortest?
10. Name some stars that are visible after sunset in late winter and early spring. Late
summer and early fall.
11. Describe how the Big Dipper changes its position with the seasons.
12. What is the Summer Triangle?