Summer (December, January, February)

In summer the weather is hot and gets hotter. People find ways to keep cool. Many go to the beach to swim in the cool water, or they find a shady place in a garden. For many people, summer is time for holidays.  

Many kinds of soft fruits such as peaches and strawberries are ready to pick in summer. In the home garden, tomatoes are ripe. 

Baby birds and animals grow bigger in summer. They must be big and strong by the time the weather starts to cool.

Cricket and tennis are summer sports.

Natural disasters during summer

Summer is often a time of drought in Australia. Bushfires too are likely to burn in many parts of the country.

Read the kidcyber pages:

• Bushfires

• Drought

Autumn (March, April, May)

After summer comes autumn. In some places in the world autumn is called 'fall'. The weather gets cooler. The leaves of some trees turn red, yellow or brown. Then they fall off the trees. The fruit of some trees, such as apples and pears, is ready to be picked, and on farms crops are ready to harvest.  In the home gardens people plant carrots, cabbages and sprouts which will grow in time for winter.  

Australia's football seasons begins in autumn.

Winter (June, July, August)

After autumn comes winter. The weather is colder now. Rain and storms affect much of Australia. In some places it is very cold and snow falls on higher ground. People go to the mountains to ski and play in the snow during winter. Many trees have no leaves, some birds fly to warmer parts of the country or to other countries. Farmers plough their fields to get them ready for spring planting.

Many people play soccer, rugby and Australian rules football in winter. Millions more watch the games on television or go to football stadiums to see a match. 

Spring (September, October, November)

In spring the weather is getting warmer, but can change a lot. There is usually plenty of rain in spring. There are blossoms on some trees and many flowers grow. Plants that grow from bulbs such as daffodils and tulips flower in spring. Birds make nests and lay eggs and many animals have babies in the spring.

Seasons in the far north of Australia

Like most places in the world Australia has four seasons in a year: summer, autumn and winter and spring. However, in the tropical far north of Australia there are just two seasons, the wet season and the dry. The wet season, also called the monsoon season, lasts for about six months, usually between December and March. The weather is hot, with temperatures between 30 and 50 degrees Celsius. Humidity is high during the wet, caused by large amounts of water in the air. During the wet a lot of rain falls and often causes flooding. The dry season lasts about six months, usually between May and October. Temperatures are lower and there is only a little rain. The average temperature is around 20 degrees Celsius. Many people from the southern parts of Australia 'escape' from the winter and travel north for a holiday.

What causes the seasons?

The seasons change because the Earth tilts on an angle as it orbits the sun. This means that during a part of the year, either the northern part or the southern part of the Earth leans more directly towards the sun. The part closest to the sun gets more light and heat and has summer. While the part tilting away from the sun has less light and heat and has winter.

Ancient traditions in Australia

Seasons in Australia are not as clearly defined as they are on other continents. In ancient times most of the Aboriginal nations, people who have lived on the continent for over 60,000 years, recognised more than four seasons. Some of those nations had six, seven or eight seasons. The seasons were defined by food availability, harvesting time for fruits and flowers, the stars in the sky as much as by temperature. For example, at certain times of the year particular fruits were ripe, or it was the right time for certain animals or fish to be hunted.

There are six distinct weather periods recognised in the Gariwerd seasonal cycle. The language groups, Djapwurrong and Jardwadjali are the languages used by the custodians for the Grampians/Gariwerd region.

Watch a video about the ancient traditional seasons in Australia

In this video a class of kids is being taught about the ancient seasons by two Aboriginal Elders. As a mark of respect, Elders are called Aunty or Uncle.

Indigenous-seasons in Australia

 It is always a good idea to use more than one source of information, so here are some others for you to investigate

Read more about what causes the seasons:

http://www.scienceu.com/observatory/articles/seasons/seasons.html

nasa seasons