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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 24 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.Toward the west, away from the rising sun
  • B.Straight down
  • C.Toward the east, at the sun
2.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
3.When it is noon on one side of Earth, what time is it on the opposite side?
  • A.About midnight
  • B.Also noon
  • C.Early morning everywhere
4.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 smallest then
  • C.The sun is furthest away
5.Why are some star patterns seen only in winter?
  • A.Clouds hide them all summer
  • B.Those stars switch off in summer
  • C.As Earth travels around the sun, its night side faces different stars
6.How long does Earth take to spin around once?
  • A.About a week
  • B.About a year
  • C.About 24 hours
7.The stars seem to move across the sky during the night. Why?
  • A.The stars are blown by wind
  • B.The stars orbit Earth every night
  • C.Earth is turning, so the stars appear to move
8.If Earth spun around faster, what would happen to the length of each day and night?
  • A.Days and nights would be shorter
  • B.Nothing would change
  • C.They would be longer

LessonPrint · 5-ESS1-2 · Set 24 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Turning Once a Day

Set 24. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Toward the west, away from the rising sun
  2. 2.Earth spins toward the east, once about every 24 hours
  3. 3.About midnight
  4. 4.The sun is at its highest in the sky
  5. 5.As Earth travels around the sun, its night side faces different stars
  6. 6.About 24 hours
  7. 7.Earth is turning, so the stars appear to move
  8. 8.Days and nights would be shorter

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