Name:
Date:
Moon Phases Worksheet
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
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1. What causes the phases of the moon?
a. the relative positions of the moon, Earth, and the sun
b. the tilted orbit of the moon
c. the moon’s period of revolution equaling its period of rotation
d. sunlight reflecting off Earth’s surface
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2. What happens during a total lunar eclipse?
a. The shadow of Earth falls on the moon.
b. A thin ring of the sun shows through.
c. The moon completely covers the sun.
d. The sun completely covers the moon.
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3. What are the different appearances of the moon as it revolves around Earth called?
a. satellites
c. nebulas
b. phases
d. eclipses
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4. When the shadow of one celestial body falls on another, a(n) ____________________
occurs.
a. satellite
c. nebula
b. phase
d. eclipse
5. Where does the moon get its light?
a. moon flares
c. nuclear fusion
b. fires on the moon
d. reflection of the sun’s light
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.
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6. What happens during a lunar eclipse?
a. the moon comes between the Earth and c. the Earth comes between the sun and
the Sun
the moon
b. the sun comes between the Earth and d. the moon is the only visible object in
the Moon
the sky
7. Why do we see different shapes of the moon during the month?
a. The sun’s light outshines the moon’s c. the Earth blocks the moon’s light
light
b. the amount of sunlight on the side of d. the moon s on the shadow of the Earth
the moon that faces the Earth changes
8. In a waxing moon we see the lit portion getting _________, while in a waning moon we
see the lit portion getting ____________.
a. larger, larger
c. smaller larger
b. smaller, smaller
d. larger, smaller