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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 8 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.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
2.The sun rises earlier in a town far to the east than in a town far to the west. Why?
  • A.The sun rises twice
  • B.Earth turns toward the east, so eastern places turn into sunlight first
  • C.The eastern town is closer to the sun
3.Early in the morning, which way does a stick's shadow point?
  • A.Toward the east, at the sun
  • B.Toward the west, away from the rising sun
  • C.Straight down
4.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
5.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
6.If Earth spun around faster, what would happen to the length of each day and night?
  • A.They would be longer
  • B.Nothing would change
  • C.Days and nights would be shorter
7.Why is a shadow shortest around the middle of the day?
  • A.The sun is smallest then
  • B.The sun is furthest away
  • C.The sun is at its highest in the sky
8.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 ground moves under the stick
  • C.The stick bends in the heat

LessonPrint · 5-ESS1-2 · Set 8 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Turning Once a Day

Set 8. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.They are on opposite sides of the spinning Earth, so one faces the sun and one faces away
  2. 2.Earth turns toward the east, so eastern places turn into sunlight first
  3. 3.Toward the west, away from the rising sun
  4. 4.Earth spins toward the east, once about every 24 hours
  5. 5.Toward the east, away from the setting sun
  6. 6.Days and nights would be shorter
  7. 7.The sun is at its highest in the sky
  8. 8.The sun's position in the sky changes as Earth turns

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