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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 15 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.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 eastern town is closer to the sun
  • C.The sun rises twice
2.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 are blown by wind
  • C.The stars orbit Earth every night
3.Why is a shadow shortest around the middle of the day?
  • A.The sun is at its highest in the sky
  • B.The sun is furthest away
  • C.The sun is smallest then
4.Why is it night in Australia while it is day in Britain?
  • A.Australia is further from the sun
  • B.The sun switches off over Australia
  • C.They are on opposite sides of the spinning Earth, so one faces the sun and one faces away
5.When it is noon on one side of Earth, what time is it on the opposite side?
  • A.Also noon
  • B.About midnight
  • C.Early morning everywhere
6.Why does the sun seem to cross the sky from east to west each day?
  • A.Earth spins toward the east, once about every 24 hours
  • B.Clouds push the sun along
  • C.The sun travels around Earth each day
7.Why does a stick's shadow swing around during the day?
  • A.The ground moves under the stick
  • B.The stick bends in the heat
  • C.The sun's position in the sky changes as Earth turns
8.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

LessonPrint · 5-ESS1-2 · Set 15 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Turning Once a Day

Set 15. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Earth turns toward the east, so eastern places turn into sunlight first
  2. 2.Earth is turning, so the stars appear to move
  3. 3.The sun is at its highest in the sky
  4. 4.They are on opposite sides of the spinning Earth, so one faces the sun and one faces away
  5. 5.About midnight
  6. 6.Earth spins toward the east, once about every 24 hours
  7. 7.The sun's position in the sky changes as Earth turns
  8. 8.As Earth travels around the sun, its night side faces different stars

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