Introduce the topic
Run the tour before students compare the three motions.
Open the tour →For educators
Teach the cycles by changing them
Ask learners to predict, move a slider, then explain what happened. The tour and the lab are free to use in lessons on seasons, sunlight and ice ages.
A first experiment
Predict, then test
Start with today’s settings. Ask whether a bigger tilt gives 65°N more or less sunlight in summer, then try both tilt buttons and write down the numbers. Discuss why: longer days and a higher Sun.
Next, keep the tilt fixed and change where summer falls on the orbit, so learners isolate the effect of distance. Copy a link for each setup to share it. Remind them that the number is sunlight, and that ice also depends on oceans and greenhouse gases.
Then press play on the clock in the lab. Ask learners to compare the sunlight curve with the ice line and describe the delay.
In the classroom
Ways to use it
Investigate
Let learners change real orbital values, or travel in time, and discuss what the 65°N number does and does not show.
Open the lab →Read further
Assign one guide: orbit shape, tilt, precession, the 65°N yardstick or modern warming.
Browse the guides →Check the method
Every figure comes with its equations, data sources and limits.
Read the method →Citation
How to cite
Van Harreveld, Filip. Milanković Cycles: Why Ice Ages Come and Go. milankovitchcycles.com.
Links to a single guide are welcome when it fits your lesson, article, newsletter or reading list better.
Contact
Questions or feedback?
For questions about using the project, corrections or interviews, write to Filip through filipvanharreveld.com.