New
New
Year 1
Day length in winter
I can observe what happens to day length in winter.
New
New
Year 1
Day length in winter
I can observe what happens to day length in winter.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- The amount of light we see each day changes throughout the year.
- Day length is shorter in the season of winter and this means that it is darker for longer.
- Day length can be investigated using observation skills.
- A clock can be used to help record what time it becomes dark each evening.
- The shortest day, when we have the least amount of daylight, in the UK is December 21st.
Keywords
Light - It is light during the daytime.
Season - Seasons are periods of similar weather. In the UK there are four seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter).
Winter - Winter is the coldest season of the year. It is between autumn and spring.
Day length - Day length is how long it is light for during a day. This happens between sunrise and sunset.
Time - Time tells you how long something takes to happen.
Common misconception
We have the same amount of daylight in every season.
Explanation of how day length changes throughout the year and is shorter during winter.
Turn off lights in the classroom to demonstrate the impact of artificial lights and remind pupils that even when it is dark outside, it can still be light inside but this light is not coming from the sun but from artificial lighting.
Teacher tip
Equipment
Watch or clock, a globe and torch may also be useful but not essential.
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on
Open Government Licence version 3.0
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).Lesson video
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Starter quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
Which statement is true?
The weather is hot and sunny in each season.
The weather is cold and snowy in each season.
Q2.
Which of these photographs shows the weather in winter?
B
C
Q3.
What season does winter come after?
spring
summer
Q4.
What do we use a thermometer for?
To measure how much rain there is.
To measure how windy it is.
Q5.
True or false? The weather in winter is often hot with lots of sun.
true
Q6.
We can use observation skills to ...
know the names of different trees.
find out the height of a tree.
Q2 image 3 "People enjoy a summer Sunday afternoon in Town Mills Park, Andover" by Anguskirk is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Exit quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
True or false? The amount of light each day changes throughout the year.
false
Q2.
In the United Kingdom, day length is shortest in which season?
spring
summer
autumn
Q3.
How can we investigate the length of days?
We can observe how many trees have leaves.
We can observe how cold it is.
Q4.
What is the date of the shortest day of the year in the United Kingdom?
21st March
21st May
Q5.
What can we use to investigate the length of days?
a thermometer
a magnifying glass
Q6.
Which of these might you observe during the winter?
long day lengths
lots of warm sunshine