A child in a Texas field at three times of day, with the Sun low in the east, high overhead, and low in the west.

The Sun’s Path

Why the Sun seems to move.

Lesson 24 of 41

Try this first

Before we start

Today’s story

The Sun’s Path

Pick one spot in a pasture and stand there all day. At sunrise the Sun peeks over the east fence. By noon it is high above you. By evening it sinks behind the west tree line.

The Sun makes the same path every day. It seems to travel across the sky from east to west. This is called the Sun's apparent path. Apparent means it looks that way.

The Sun is not really crossing the sky. Earth is spinning toward the east, and that makes the Sun look like it moves west. Let us trace the path.

See it

Five steps. Every time.

Hands on

Sun Tracker

30 minutes spread over a day · Do this with a grown-up nearby

You need

a paper plate
a marker
a safe window or yard spot
a compass or a phone compass
a clock

Do this

Find north, east, south and west with the compass.
Write E, S and W on the plate edges.
Stand at the same spot in the morning, at noon and in the afternoon.
Without looking at the Sun, point to where the light is coming from.
Mark that point on the plate with a dot and write the time.
Connect the dots with a line.

Write or draw: A plate with three dots in order, each labeled with the time, and a line joining them.

Watch for: The dots curve from east to west, and the middle dot sits highest. Is the path the same shape each day?

Safety: Never look directly at the Sun, not even with sunglasses.

Same every time

Three rules

Rule 1Never look straight at the Sun.

It can hurt your eyes. Watch where it shines instead.

Rule 2The Sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

This is the same every day.

Rule 3The path is apparent.

Earth's spin makes the Sun look like it moves.

Grandpa Fenn’s notebook

Say it like a scientist

horizon
The line where the ground and sky seem to meet.

apparent
How something looks, even if it is not what is really happening.

east
The direction where the Sun appears to rise.

west
The direction where the Sun appears to set.

Poppy’s quiz

Six questions

Tap an answer. Green means right. You will see why.

Talk about it

Say it out loud

How could you show a friend that the Sun's path is the same shape every day? What evidence would you collect?
Where does the Sun come up over your house or school? Which window gets the afternoon light?

Did you know

A sundial tells time by the Sun's path. People used them for thousands of years before clocks.

Someone who does this

A surveyor measures land and uses the Sun and stars to find directions.

BeforeDay and Night Next lessonShadow Changes