Quick question: why is it hot in summer? If you answered "because Earth gets closer to the Sun," you fell for the most common trick in astronomy. And it is not your fault, plenty of adults get this wrong too.
The truth is more interesting. Seasons exist because of a tiny detail: Earth's axis is slightly crooked, tilted by 23.5 degrees. That little "lean" is what gives the world spring, summer, autumn and winter. It is what makes your Christmas fall in the heat while in the United States it happens in the snow. And it is what actually decides the month your Club schedules the campout.
In this article you will truly understand how this works, with examples from a Pathfinder's daily life. And you will see what the Bible already said about this cycle, millennia before any telescope.
The secret is in the tilt, not the distance
Picture Earth spinning as it travels around the Sun. If the planet stood perfectly 'upright', the whole year would be the same: the same amount of light, the same temperature, always. No summer, no winter, no fun.
But Earth is tilted. Its axis, that imaginary line running from the North Pole to the South Pole, is crooked by 23.5 degrees. As the planet travels around the Sun over the course of the year (what we call the orbit, or revolution), this tilt makes each part of the world sometimes more turned toward the light, sometimes more turned away from it.
When your side of Earth is tilted toward the Sun, the rays arrive more 'straight on', concentrated, hitting hard on a smaller patch of ground. That is summer. When your side is tilted away, the rays arrive slanted, spread out, weak. That is winter. It is not that the Sun moved: it is the angle at which the light hits you that changed.
Think of a flashlight. Point it straight at the table and you see a small, bright circle. Tilt the flashlight and the same light becomes a large, faint smudge. Summer is the straight flashlight. Winter is the tilted flashlight. It is that simple.
The proof that distance is not what rules
If the seasons were caused by distance, the whole world would have summer and winter at the same time. But that is not what happens, and there is one fact that settles the debate.
Earth is closest to the Sun around January 3. That is right: at the peak of the Brazilian summer, we are at the nearest point to the Sun in the entire year. And the farthest point happens in July, right in the middle of our winter. In other words, if distance ruled, it would be the opposite of what we feel on our skin.
The difference in distance between the nearest and farthest points is about 3%. That is far too little to cause the seasons. What truly changes everything is that angle of 23.5 degrees.
Save this story for the next campfire. It is one of those curiosities that make everyone stop and think: 'wait, it is in January that we are closest to the Sun?'. Yes. And it is still summer because the Southern Hemisphere is tilted toward the light.
Why Christmas is hot here and snowy out there
Have you ever watched an American Christmas movie with snow, gloves and a fireplace, and thought 'it is never like that here'? Exactly. The explanation is that same tilt.
Earth has two hemispheres, the Northern and the Southern, separated by the Equator. Because the planet is tilted, when one hemisphere is turned toward the Sun, the other is turned away. They live in opposite seasons all year long.
Brazil is almost entirely in the Southern Hemisphere. In December, it is our hemisphere that is tilted toward the Sun: that is why our Christmas is in the heat, in shorts with the fan on. In the United States and Europe, in the Northern Hemisphere, December is the peak of winter, with cold and snow.
This changes practical things at the Club. The winter camping gear that a Club in the United States uses in January is what a Brazilian Club uses in July. If you exchange letters or messages with Pathfinders from another country, remember: when you are sweating at the campout, they may be bundled up in coats. It is the same planet, spinning crooked.
Read alsoPathfinders by the numbers: the movement todaySolstices and equinoxes: the four markers of the year
Throughout the orbit, there are four special days that mark the turning of the seasons. They are not a 'calendar invention': they are real moments in Earth's position relative to the Sun.
The solstices are the extremes. On the summer solstice we have the longest day of the year, with the Sun hitting hardest. On the winter solstice we have the longest night, the weakest Sun. They are the days of 'the most' and 'the least' light.
The equinoxes are the balance. On these dates, day and night have almost the same length all over the world. They mark the start of autumn and spring. The word comes from Latin and means, roughly, 'equal night'.
Here are the dates for the Southern Hemisphere in 2026. They vary a little each year, so always check before finalizing the Club calendar:
| Event | Season that begins | Date (2026, South) |
|---|---|---|
| March equinox | Autumn | March 20 |
| June solstice | Winter | June 21 |
| September equinox | Spring | September 22 |
| December solstice | Summer | December 21 |
What the Bible says about the seasons
Long before telescopes and satellites existed, the Bible already spoke of this cycle with striking confidence. Right after the flood, God makes a promise to Noah in Genesis 8:22: 'As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease' (NIV).
Notice what lies behind this promise: a reliable order. Sowing and harvest, heat and cold, summer and winter follow one another without fail, year after year. For Seventh-day Adventists, and for many Christians, this points to a caring Creator who sustains nature with regularity, not to a universe that runs by chance.
Psalm 74:17 reinforces the same idea: 'It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter' (NIV). Summer and winter do not appear as accidents, but as something designed on purpose.
If you are not an Adventist or are still getting to know this faith, feel at ease. No one here will push anything on you. The science of the 23.5-degree tilt is true and you can teach it anywhere. What faith adds is a look of gratitude: understanding how the clock works can be, at the same time, a way to admire the one who built the clock. If that interests you, you can observe the night sky with that sense of discovery.
How the seasons shape the Club calendar
Knowing this is not just a quiz curiosity. It changes how your Club plans the whole year. The Director and the Counselors look at the seasons before scheduling almost everything.
A campout at the peak of winter, in June and July, calls for different planning: a warmer sleeping bag, layered clothing, extra care against hypothermia at night. A summer campout, from December to February, requires attention to intense heat, lots of hydration, sun protection and smart timing for heavy activities (avoiding the midday Sun).
The seasons also affect daylight. In winter, night falls earlier: that council fire and the night hike happen earlier than in summer, when the day stretches out. This changes the schedule of an entire campout.
And there is the rain. In Brazil, much of the country has a rainier summer. A campout scheduled for January might get caught in a storm; one in August tends to be drier. None of this is guesswork: it is reading the sky, the calendar and your region's history before deciding. Good Pathfinder planning starts with understanding which season you are stepping into.
Activities to experience the seasons at your Club
The best way to understand the seasons is to feel each one in practice. Here are simple ideas for the Unit to do throughout the year, without needing expensive equipment.
Set up a 'season diary'. Choose a tree near the meeting place and photograph it in the same position every month. Over a year, the Unit sees the leaves falling in autumn, the bare branches in winter and the greening in spring. It is real science, done by you.
Do the flashlight experiment. With a flashlight and a sheet of paper, show how straight light forms a small, strong circle (summer) and how tilted light spreads out and weakens (winter). In five minutes, everyone understands what the 23.5 degrees do.
Take advantage of the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, for a sky observation. Since it gets dark early, there is plenty of time to look at the stars calmly. If the group gets excited, that is the perfect hook to begin the Astronomy Honor and turn today's curiosity into real learning.