1.     In most places on Earth, weather changes as the seasons change.  These         changes are caused by the tilt of the Earth’s axis relative to the sun.  In the summer when the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth is tilted toward the sun, the northern part of the world receives more sunlight.  Daylight lingers into the evening hours and the weather is mild and warm.
   

2.     In the winter, the opposite is true, The Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun and receives less sunlight.  The sun sets much earlier, and winter nights are long, cold and dark.
   

3.     But on one day during the third week of September, daylight hours and nighttime hours are about equal. We call that day the autumn equinox.  The word equinox comes from a Latin word that means “time of equal days and nights.”  This is the first day of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.
   

4.     In autumn, daylight decreases day by day, the weather grows colder, and the growing season winds down.  Just as spring is the time for planting, autumn is the time for harvest.  Today, as in the past a series of harvest festivals brightens this season of increasing darkness.
   

5. 
   

6.             - From The Autumn Equinox: Celebrating the Harvest, by Ellen Jackson
   

How are you celebrating the arrival of autumn?

Materials & Resources

Autumnal Equinox - eSky

The Autumn Equinox - You Grow Girl

What Causes the Earth’s Seasons? - Video

Eggs-pirament - National Geographic Kids

The Reason for the Season Activity - National Geographic