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Turning Once a Day is a free printable Grade 5 science worksheet on explaining day and night and the sun's daily path by Earth's spin, aligned to NGSS performance expectation 5-ESS1-2. It prints 8 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 11 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Turning Once a Day

5-ESS1-2

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.Why are some star patterns seen only in winter?
  • A.Those stars switch off in summer
  • B.Clouds hide them all summer
  • C.As Earth travels around the sun, its night side faces different stars
2.Early in the morning, which way does a stick's shadow point?
  • A.Straight down
  • B.Toward the west, away from the rising sun
  • C.Toward the east, at the sun
3.Why is it night in Australia while it is day in Britain?
  • A.They are on opposite sides of the spinning Earth, so one faces the sun and one faces away
  • B.The sun switches off over Australia
  • C.Australia is further from the sun
4.How long does Earth take to spin around once?
  • A.About 24 hours
  • B.About a year
  • C.About a week
5.Why is a shadow shortest around the middle of the day?
  • A.The sun is smallest then
  • B.The sun is at its highest in the sky
  • C.The sun is furthest away
6.The sun rises earlier in a town far to the east than in a town far to the west. Why?
  • A.Earth turns toward the east, so eastern places turn into sunlight first
  • B.The sun rises twice
  • C.The eastern town is closer to the sun
7.In the evening, which way does a stick's shadow point?
  • A.Toward the east, away from the setting sun
  • B.Straight up
  • C.Toward the west, at the sun
8.Why does the sun seem to cross the sky from east to west each day?
  • A.Clouds push the sun along
  • B.Earth spins toward the east, once about every 24 hours
  • C.The sun travels around Earth each day

LessonPrint · 5-ESS1-2 · Set 11 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Turning Once a Day

Set 11. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.As Earth travels around the sun, its night side faces different stars
  2. 2.Toward the west, away from the rising sun
  3. 3.They are on opposite sides of the spinning Earth, so one faces the sun and one faces away
  4. 4.About 24 hours
  5. 5.The sun is at its highest in the sky
  6. 6.Earth turns toward the east, so eastern places turn into sunlight first
  7. 7.Toward the east, away from the setting sun
  8. 8.Earth spins toward the east, once about every 24 hours

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 5-ESS1-2 of the Next Generation Science Standards.