Spring and Neap Tides

Help students see how the Sun and Moon team up on the tides with this one-page worksheet! Students learn the difference between spring tides and neap tides, then identify each one from simple diagrams.

The passage explains that the Sun's gravity pulls on the oceans too, but less than the Moon because the Sun is so far away. When the Sun, Earth, and Moon are lined up in a straight line, their pulls add together, so high tides are extra high and low tides are extra low. These are spring tides, and the passage points out that they have nothing to do with the season spring. When the Sun and Moon pull at a right angle to each other, their pulls partly cancel out, and the tides are less extreme. These are neap tides. Each kind happens about twice a month as the Moon travels around Earth. In the first activity, students look at four small diagrams of the Sun, Earth, and Moon and write S or N in the box under each one. In the second activity, students complete four sentences with the words straight line, right angle, highest, and twice. The sheet is written to Texas TEKS 6.9B and also fits NGSS MS-ESS1-1.

What's inside:

• A short passage with a simple Moon doodle
• 4 Sun, Earth, and Moon diagrams to label
• 4 fill in the blank sentences with a word bank
• A visual answer key

How teachers use it:

• After the What Causes Tides? worksheet
• For bell work, stations, or an exit ticket
• As homework or sub plans, with no prep needed

It takes about 10 minutes and prints clearly in black and white. This worksheet is part of our Reading in Science series on the Sun, Earth, and Moon.