Phases of the moon activity.
Equipment.
Large ball, painted ½ white and ½ black, mounted on a stick.
Recording chart and highlighter.
Students work in pairs.

Students agree on a “location” of the sun.

One student stands stationary while the other student walks the model moon
around in a circle, stopping at the stations indicated on the chart below.

The student at the center uses a highlighter to color in the part of the lit moon they
can see (white) on their recording chart (sample below)

It is important that the orbiting student keep the white side of the moon facing the
same direction throughout the experiment, otherwise the moon will not go
through its phases.

Switch places and repeat.
When finished, the phases above should compare with the phases observed in the
simulation on ExploreLearning.com