Assignment - Infographics - 126
A Note on What Makes This an Infographic
Drawing a globe with one side lit and the other dark is a diagram. An infographic goes further. It explains the mechanism, answers the questions a reader would naturally ask (“Why does the sun seem to move across the sky?” “Why are days longer in summer?”), and leaves the reader with a complete understanding from a single image.
Objective
Create a narrative infographic in Canva that explains how the Earth’s rotation produces day and night, and connects this to time zones and seasonal changes in day length.
Content to Cover
The Core Mechanism
The Earth rotates on its own axis once every 24 hours, from west to east. The side facing the sun experiences day; the side facing away experiences night. The sun does not move - the Earth spins toward and away from it.
Include: a diagram of the Earth with its axis tilted at 23.5°, one side lit by the sun and one in shadow. Label: the axis of rotation, the lit hemisphere (day), the dark hemisphere (night), and the terminator line (the moving boundary between day and night).
Why the Sun Appears to Move
As the Earth rotates west to east, the sun appears to rise in the east and set in the west from our perspective on the surface. Include a small panel showing this from the viewpoint of a person standing on Earth.
Time Zones
The Earth is divided into 24 time zones, each approximately 15° of longitude wide (360° ÷ 24 hours = 15° per hour). When it is noon in one time zone, it is already evening in a zone further east. Pakistan Standard Time (PST) is UTC+5.
Include a simplified strip or map showing a few time zones as an example.
Why Day Length Changes with the Seasons
The Earth’s axis is tilted 23.5°. In June, the Northern Hemisphere tilts toward the sun - days are longer. In December, it tilts away - days are shorter. At the equator, day and night are approximately equal year-round.
Include a small diagram showing the Earth in June and December positions relative to the sun.
A Closing Fact
Add one concrete fact: Karachi experiences approximately 11 hours of daylight in December and 13.5 hours in June.
Design in Canva
- Main central illustration: the Earth rotating with day and night sides clearly shown.
- Surrounding panels for each additional concept: apparent sun movement, time zones, seasonal day length.
- Use deep blue for the night side, warm yellow for the day side.
- Arrows showing the direction of Earth’s rotation.
Required Elements
- Core rotation mechanism with labeled diagram.
- Explanation of apparent sun movement.
- Time zone panel including Pakistan Standard Time.
- Seasonal day length panel with June/December comparison.
- The Karachi day length fact.
- Title: “How Day and Night Are Made.”