Frank Schimaneok. Jr.. age 9. of Allentown. PA

How does night fall?

Nightfall is a poetic expression for the coming of darkness. We have day and night because the big earth is spinning around. Use your finger to set your gift globe turning. It turns around exactly as the big earth turns.

Millions of miles away from the earth is a huge. blazing star. We call it the sun. Day and night it blazes away. pouring out its light in all directions. As the earth turns. first one side. then another is facing the sun. The side facing the sun is bathed in the light of day. The other side is resting in the shade of night.

But not for long. For the earth is forever turning. The night side turns around towards the sun and wakes up to greet the morning. All day long it is lit with beams of sunlight. Meantime it is steadily turning towards evening and the shade of night. The shadows of night fall all around us as our bit of earth moves away from the sunlight.