--- title: Seasons, terms and holidays — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Seasons, terms and holidays», a lesson of the world course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: The Earth is tilted, like a spinning top leaning to one side. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [World](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/) / Seasons, terms and holidays # Seasons, terms and holidays Lesson 113 of the world course of Mova's primary school: 22 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/0/) — The Earth is tilted, like a spinning top leaning to one side. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/1/) — When the northern half leans towards the Sun it gets summer, while the southern half leans away and gets winter. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/2/) — So when Freddie in England has a cold Christmas, his cousin in Australia is at the beach in his togs (swimming costume): December there is summer. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/3/) — People count seasons two ways. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/5/) — Astronomers (scientists who study the sky) start the seasons at the equinoxes and solstices: spring at about 20 March, summer at the longest day, about 21 June. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/6/) — Near the equator it is warm all year, so seasons are about rain, not cold: in Kenya there are the "long rains" (about March to May) and the "short rains" (about October to December), and India has the monsoon, a big rainy season from about June to September. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/7/) — School holidays are a different calendar from the seasons, chosen by each country. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/8/) — English schools have three terms with half-term breaks and about 6 weeks off in summer; many US schools finish in late May; Scottish schools break up in late June; in Ukraine the summer holidays last about 3 months and the school year starts on 1 September, the Day of Knowledge. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/9/) — Holiday weeks cost more, because lots of families want to go at the same time: a trip that is £800 one week can be £1,200 in half-term, £400 more. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/10/) — Dad calls it "daylight robbery". - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/11/) — The Earth is tilted, so when the northern half leans towards the Sun it has summer and the southern half has winter. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/12/) — In Australia and New Zealand summer is December, January and February, so Christmas comes in summer. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/13/) — Weather scientists count spring as March, April and May in the north; astronomers start it at the spring equinox, about 20 March. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/14/) — At an equinox day and night are about equal; at the summer solstice, about 21 June in the north, we have the longest day. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/15/) — After the longest day the days slowly get shorter, but the hottest weeks usually come later, because land and sea take time to warm up. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/16/) — Near the equator the seasons are wet and dry rather than hot and cold; Kenya has long rains from about March to May and short rains from about October to December. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/17/) — In England the school year has 3 terms, autumn, spring and summer, with a half-term break of about a week in each, and about 6 weeks of summer holiday. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/18/) — 6 weeks of summer holiday is 6 × 7 = 42 days. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/19/) — Many US schools finish in late May, Scottish schools break up in late June, and Ukrainian summer holidays last about 3 months. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/20/) — In the UK the clocks go back one hour on the last Sunday of October, which in 2026 is 25 October; it brings darker afternoons, but winter as weather scientists count it starts on 1 December. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/21/) — Ukraine's winter holidays run from about late December to mid-January, while English schools usually get about 2 weeks at Christmas. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/113-seasons-terms-and-holidays/22/) — Holidays cost more in school holiday weeks because many families want them then; £1,200 − £800 = £400 more. - ← previous: [Leap years and 29 February birthdays](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/112-leap-years-and-29-february-birthdays/) - next →: [Birthdays, ages and "how many sleeps"](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/114-birthdays-ages-and-how-many-sleeps/) - ↑ back to [World](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/)