An “around your head” orbit
Once students have come to understand solstices and equinoxes,
it is relatively simple to move them toward the more
complex understanding of Earth’s annual orbit around the
sun. Students simply move the rotating apple 360° around
their head while maintaining the required tilt (23.5°) of
the Earth on its axis. This is easiest if the equinoxes are
aligned with the ears. For example, if a student starts with
the summer solstice directly in front of her, then movement
along Earth’s orbit takes the apple to the left ear for the fall
equinox, behind the head for the winter solstice, to the right
ear for the spring equinox, and back in front of the face to
complete one full year. The difficulty in doing this resides
with the student trying to retain Mother Earth (the apple) on
her consistent, required tilt while also rotating her and also
orbiting around Grandfather Sun (the student’s own head).
This gymnastic challenge is easily overcome by having two
students work together, one being Grandfather Sun (but
standing still) and one moving in a circle around the sun
while rotating the apple on its axis. An additional request
could be to have the student who is Grandfather Sun rotate
to “see” Mother Earth (the apple) through all four seasons.