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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 14 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.Early in the morning, which way does a stick's shadow point?
  • A.Straight down
  • B.Toward the east, at the sun
  • C.Toward the west, away from the rising sun
2.When it is noon on one side of Earth, what time is it on the opposite side?
  • A.About midnight
  • B.Early morning everywhere
  • C.Also noon
3.How long does Earth take to spin around once?
  • A.About 24 hours
  • B.About a year
  • C.About a week
4.Why is a shadow shortest around the middle of the day?
  • A.The sun is smallest then
  • B.The sun is furthest away
  • C.The sun is at its highest in the sky
5.The sun rises earlier in a town far to the east than in a town far to the west. Why?
  • A.The sun rises twice
  • B.Earth turns toward the east, so eastern places turn into sunlight first
  • C.The eastern town is closer to the sun
6.Why are some star patterns seen only in winter?
  • A.As Earth travels around the sun, its night side faces different stars
  • B.Clouds hide them all summer
  • C.Those stars switch off in summer
7.In the evening, which way does a stick's shadow point?
  • A.Straight up
  • B.Toward the west, at the sun
  • C.Toward the east, away from the setting sun
8.The stars seem to move across the sky during the night. Why?
  • A.Earth is turning, so the stars appear to move
  • B.The stars orbit Earth every night
  • C.The stars are blown by wind

LessonPrint · 5-ESS1-2 · Set 14 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Turning Once a Day

Set 14. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Toward the west, away from the rising sun
  2. 2.About midnight
  3. 3.About 24 hours
  4. 4.The sun is at its highest in the sky
  5. 5.Earth turns toward the east, so eastern places turn into sunlight first
  6. 6.As Earth travels around the sun, its night side faces different stars
  7. 7.Toward the east, away from the setting sun
  8. 8.Earth is turning, so the stars appear to move

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