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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 22 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.When it is noon on one side of Earth, what time is it on the opposite side?
  • A.Early morning everywhere
  • B.About midnight
  • C.Also noon
2.Why is it night in Australia while it is day in Britain?
  • A.Australia is further from the sun
  • B.They are on opposite sides of the spinning Earth, so one faces the sun and one faces away
  • C.The sun switches off over Australia
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.The stars seem to move across the sky during the night. Why?
  • A.The stars are blown by wind
  • B.Earth is turning, so the stars appear to move
  • C.The stars orbit Earth every night
5.Why does a stick's shadow swing around during the day?
  • A.The ground moves under the stick
  • B.The sun's position in the sky changes as Earth turns
  • C.The stick bends in the heat
6.Why does the sun seem to cross the sky from east to west each day?
  • A.The sun travels around Earth each day
  • B.Clouds push the sun along
  • C.Earth spins toward the east, once about every 24 hours
7.In the evening, which way does a stick's shadow point?
  • A.Straight up
  • B.Toward the east, away from the setting sun
  • C.Toward the west, at the sun
8.How long does Earth take to spin around once?
  • A.About a week
  • B.About a year
  • C.About 24 hours

LessonPrint · 5-ESS1-2 · Set 22 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Turning Once a Day

Set 22. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.About midnight
  2. 2.They are on opposite sides of the spinning Earth, so one faces the sun and one faces away
  3. 3.The sun is at its highest in the sky
  4. 4.Earth is turning, so the stars appear to move
  5. 5.The sun's position in the sky changes as Earth turns
  6. 6.Earth spins toward the east, once about every 24 hours
  7. 7.Toward the east, away from the setting sun
  8. 8.About 24 hours

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