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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 17 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 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
2.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.Australia is further from the sun
  • C.The sun switches off over Australia
3.Why does the sun seem to cross the sky from east to west each day?
  • A.Clouds push the sun along
  • B.The sun travels around Earth each day
  • C.Earth spins toward the east, once about every 24 hours
4.Why are some star patterns seen only in winter?
  • A.Clouds hide them all summer
  • B.As Earth travels around the sun, its night side faces different stars
  • C.Those stars switch off in summer
5.How long does Earth take to spin around once?
  • A.About a week
  • B.About 24 hours
  • C.About a year
6.Why does a stick's shadow swing around during the day?
  • A.The sun's position in the sky changes as Earth turns
  • B.The stick bends in the heat
  • C.The ground moves under the stick
7.The sun rises earlier in a town far to the east than in a town far to the west. Why?
  • A.The eastern town is closer to the sun
  • B.The sun rises twice
  • C.Earth turns toward the east, so eastern places turn into sunlight first
8.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

LessonPrint · 5-ESS1-2 · Set 17 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Turning Once a Day

Set 17. Prints on its own sheet.

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

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