Leap years are important for keeping our calendar in sync with how the Earth moves around the Sun. Here are some easy points to understand:
Earth's Path: The Earth takes about 365.2425 days to travel all the way around the Sun.
Regular Year: In our regular calendar, called the Gregorian calendar, we use a year that is 365 days long. This creates a little problem every four years because of that extra 0.2425 of a day that adds up.
What is a Leap Year? To fix this problem, we have a leap year every 4 years. This year has an extra day—February 29th.
How to Tell a Leap Year: The basic rules are:
Why It Matters: Without leap years, we would lose about 3 days every 10 years. This would cause the calendar to change a lot over many years. After 100 years, spring would start to happen in what we used to call winter months!
This system helps keep our calendars correct. It makes sure events in nature, like the seasons, happen at the right times each year. It helps keep our timekeeping in tune with the natural world.
Leap years are important for keeping our calendar in sync with how the Earth moves around the Sun. Here are some easy points to understand:
Earth's Path: The Earth takes about 365.2425 days to travel all the way around the Sun.
Regular Year: In our regular calendar, called the Gregorian calendar, we use a year that is 365 days long. This creates a little problem every four years because of that extra 0.2425 of a day that adds up.
What is a Leap Year? To fix this problem, we have a leap year every 4 years. This year has an extra day—February 29th.
How to Tell a Leap Year: The basic rules are:
Why It Matters: Without leap years, we would lose about 3 days every 10 years. This would cause the calendar to change a lot over many years. After 100 years, spring would start to happen in what we used to call winter months!
This system helps keep our calendars correct. It makes sure events in nature, like the seasons, happen at the right times each year. It helps keep our timekeeping in tune with the natural world.