Why Do We Have Seasons?: Grade 3 Reading Passage

About this worksheet

A third grade science passage that explains how Earth's tilt, not its distance from the sun, gives us summer and winter. A free printable 3rd grade nonfiction passage (157 words) with multiple-choice what/main idea/how questions, true-or-false sentences and a short written answer. Answer key on page 2. Third graders can use it for independent reading practice and to look back in the text for evidence.

On this sheet

Every year, the weather changes from summer to fall to winter to spring. Many people think this happens because Earth moves closer to the sun in summer and farther away in winter. That is not true! Earth's distance from the sun changes only a little. The real reason is tilt. Earth's axis is an imaginary line through the North and South Poles, and it is tilted to one side. As Earth travels around the sun once a year, the tilt stays pointed the same way in space.

Tips for using it

• Before reading, look at the picture and the title together and guess what the passage will be about.
• Ask your child to underline the sentence in the passage that proves each answer.
• Talk about the story afterwards: what was the problem, how was it solved, and what would your child have done?

Printing tips

Download the PDF and print at 100% (or “fit to page” on A4). Page 1 is the worksheet and page 2 is the answer key with the answers in red; print just page 1 if you want to keep the answers for checking. Free for personal, family and classroom use.