http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/planets/earth/Seasons.shtml

Name:                            Enchanted Learning – Earth’s Seasons
Curriculum Concepts:    Seasons
Level of Information:     Beginner to intermediate

This is a very basic one-page website containing useful information for younger students. It begins with a nice image showing how the seasons depend on Earth’s tilt. The image is elaborated upon with the text explanations beneath it. The second section examines solstices and the third section examines equinoxes. At the end, there’s a link to a printable self-quiz.

Although extremely basic, this is an excellent website for younger students, although some terms are not elaborated upon and so are more suitable for slightly older students. Navigation is a non-issue and all the information is contained in half the page. There’s only one image, but it clearly shows how seasons are linked to Earth’s tilt. Large headings denote the concept examined within each section. Fonts are large and bolded. The printable self-quiz is a bonus. This is a good site for both teachers and younger students to use.

http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/time/seasons.html

Name:                            The Seasons
Curriculum Concepts:    Seasons
Level of Information:     Intermediate to advanced

This site is actually a smaller portion of a larger site that was apparently built for an Astronomy class. Consequently, if you surf around on this site you will stumble upon many other concepts, including the solar system, the planets, and comets. But this annotation focuses only on the seasons portion. This page begins with an introduction describing the common misconception that seasons are caused by varying distances of the Earth from the Sun. The following sections examine seasons in the Northern & Southern Hemispheres and explain why they are out of phase with each other. The site then briefly discusses seasonal lag, a more advanced explanation of seasons that takes into account local variations in the storage of solar energy. The final section examines the Sun’s motion through the sky during different seasons.

This site is relatively plain, but the large images make up for this. All the images are colourful and link well with the text explanations. The explanations themselves are straight to the point with minimal elaboration. The vocabulary is clearly geared towards older students. It’s nice how the site points out common fallacies that a student might make when studying Earth’s seasons. The always-present menu is strangely located at the bottom of all the pages and is too simplistic, offering only Next, Back, Top, and Home. However, clicking on Home takes users to a very detailed table of contents where any section of the whole website can be accessed. Don’t let this site’s plainness fool you. The information is good and the images are great. This is a very nice site for both teachers and older students to use.