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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 6 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.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
2.How long does Earth take to spin around once?
  • A.About 24 hours
  • B.About a week
  • C.About a year
3.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
4.Why are some star patterns seen only in winter?
  • A.As Earth travels around the sun, its night side faces different stars
  • B.Those stars switch off in summer
  • C.Clouds hide them all summer
5.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
6.Early in the morning, which way does a stick's shadow point?
  • A.Toward the west, away from the rising sun
  • B.Toward the east, at the sun
  • C.Straight down
7.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
8.Why does the sun seem to cross the sky from east to west each day?
  • A.Clouds push the sun along
  • B.Earth spins toward the east, once about every 24 hours
  • C.The sun travels around Earth each day

LessonPrint · 5-ESS1-2 · Set 6 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Turning Once a Day

Set 6. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Toward the east, away from the setting sun
  2. 2.About 24 hours
  3. 3.Earth is turning, so the stars appear to move
  4. 4.As Earth travels around the sun, its night side faces different stars
  5. 5.They are on opposite sides of the spinning Earth, so one faces the sun and one faces away
  6. 6.Toward the west, away from the rising sun
  7. 7.About midnight
  8. 8.Earth spins toward the east, once about every 24 hours

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