Moon Phases
Weatherguide Calendar Lesson
Created By: Melanie Anderson, Leah Nelson, Lisa Kalina, ISD #719, 5/2007
Grade: 2
Subjects: Science
Standards
Subject
Science
Standard
Raise questions about the
natural world, make careful
observations and seek
answers.
Benchmark
Use appropriate tools to gather
and organize data; recognize
and describe patterns in data.
Time
Day 1 30 minutes
Day 2 45 minutes
Day 3 30 minutes
Objective: Students will develop an understanding of the moon phases, the moon’s orbital
revolutions around the earth, and moon vocabulary terms through class discussions and home
observations.
Concept: The moon rotates around the earth and has different phases.
Skills
Observing
Recording
Data collecting
Forecasting
Recording
Materials
Minnesota Weatherguide Environment Calendar
LCD Projector
Overhead
Blank Paper
Calendar Paper
Pencils
Boxes of Vanilla Wafers (1 box per 5 students)
Chart Paper
Markers
The Moon Book By Gail Gibbons
Moon Phases Calendar Sheet (attached)
Moon Phases Letter to Parents Sheet (attached)
Key Words: Blue moon, crescent moon, full moon, gibbous moon, half moon, waxing
(growing) crescent, first quarter moon, waxing gibbous, waning (shrinking) gibbous waning
crescent, lunar cycle, solar eclipse, lunar eclipse, and new moon.
Directions:
Day 1: Introduction
1. To introduce the class to the idea of moon observation and phases, read The Moon Book
by Gail Gibbons.
2. After reading discuss what students learned and already know about the moon.
3. Record students’ thoughts on a chart titled “Moon”.
4. Show the class the Minnesota Weatherguide Environment Calendar and the current month
page. Explain to them that you will be starting to track the moon and its phases over the
next month. Talk with them about the pictures of the moon throughout the month. Take
time to also count the days in a lunar cycle.
Day 2: Learn and Create Moon Phases
1. Review the moon chart created earlier with the students.
2. Take out the Minnesota Weatherguide Environment Calendar and point out the shaded
moon pictures in the date boxes.
3. Introduce and teach each moon phase name and definition. Keep these on a chart (use all
vocabulary from key words section).
4. Show students on an LCD projector these moon clips to help them get a better
understanding of why we only see parts of the moon. You could also show pictures of
the moon phases or other books with the moon phases (see bibliography).
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/moon_phases/index.html
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/content/visualizations/es2503/es2503
page01.cfm?chapter_no=25
Students now get a chance to make the moon phases. Explain that each one of the
students is going to make the moon phases by eating the shaded parts of the moon (eating
a cookie).
Pass out one blank piece of paper to each student. Have the students fold the paper into
eights. Students may also want to trace the folded lines with their pencil as to create
more solid boxes on their page.
Give a box of Vanilla Wafers to each group/table of students. They are to remove only
one cookie at a time. Model this process with them so they know exactly what to do for
each phase.
Tell them to take out one of the cookies, trace this whole cookie in box 1 and shade the
entire circle in. This is called a New Moon and it starts the moon's rotation, or lunation.
Have the students record the moon phase names in each box.
Model how to take out another cookie and bite along the left side of the cookie carefully,
until you get something that looks like a backwards C. Trace this in box 2. This is called
the Waxing (growing) Crescent. Have the students record the moon phase name in that
box.
10. Continue to model biting each cookie before letting students do it. Take out cookie
number 3. Bite off half the cookie. Trace this in box 3. This is called the First Quarter
moon.
11. Nibble along the right side of cookie number 4. Trace this in box 4- it is called the
Waxing Gibbous.
12. Take out cookie number 5. This cookie will not be eaten. Trace it just like it is. This is
called a Full Moon. It is completely illuminated.
13. Take the cookie from box number 4 and flip it over. Trace- this is called the Waning
(shrinking) Gibbous.
14. The cookie from box number 3 will become the Last Quarter moon for box 7. Flip it over
so it is facing the left and trace it.
15. The cookie from box 2 will become the Waning Crescent in box 8. Flip this cookie as
well and trace.
16. Double check to make sure that students have labeled each of the boxes with the proper
names as well as drawn in the proper moon shape.
17. Have the students take their cookies off the paper and stand in a circle. Students can only
eat their cookies after they share with another student the name of the moon phase that
the cookie is showing.
18. Hang the student charts up in your classroom so that students can visibly see them for at
least a week. At the end of the week, send the charts home with a note informing
families of what their students have been learning.
19. Bring students together at the end of the activity to review the changes in the moon
phases.
Day 3: Moon Calendars
1. Introduce blank calendars to the students and explain that they are going to track the
moon phases for one month and compare their findings to the Minnesota Weatherguide
Environment Calendar.
2. Point out to students that the moon does not rise and set at the same time each day. This
will not be part of their observations. Tell students that they can find the rise time of the
moon on the Minnesota Weatherguide Environment Calendar, in the local newspaper or
on the internet.
3. Explain that this is a month long homework assignment. Students are to take the
calendars home and observe the moon each night. Distribute the Moon Phases Calendar
sheets and help students fill in the dates of the lunar cycle you will be observing as you
model on the overhead or LCD. For example if today is Tuesday, March 15th , find the
first Tuesday on the sheet and write in a 15 then go onto number the dates for the rest of
the calendar. Remind students to write their names at the top. Also fill in the lunar cycle
information from start to finish. The last day on the calendar is the day that these
homework calendars are due back to school.
4. Model how to make an observation. Show students that they are to draw what the moon
looks like in each date box. Model an example of an observation recording the time, the
moon, shading it, and writing what phase it is in.
5. Send the Moon Phases Calendar sheets home with the Moon Phases Letter to Parents so
that parents are informed of the assignment and can help their student at home.
6. Throughout the month discuss with students how their observations are coming and what
they are finding.
7. When the month of recording and observing is over the students will bring their calendars
back to school. Students can then compare their findings with other students’ and also
with the Minnesota Weatherguide Environment Calendar.
Questions for Discussion
Does the moon change or stay the same?
The moon appears to change in shape as it rotates around the earth and as the
earth rotates around the sun. The changes seen in the moon are called moon
phases.
Is there a pattern to the way the moon changes?
The moon starts off in the new moon phase, it then gets bigger each day until it is
a full moon, then it gets smaller each day until it is a new moon again.
How long does it take the moon to go from one new moon to another new moon?
The lunar cycle is about one month or a little more than four weeks (29.5 days).
Taking it Further
 Teach about each month’s full moon. Explain how a full moon appears as an entire circle
in the sky. The full moon is given different names, depending on when it appears.
o January- Moon After Yule, Wolf Moon, or Old Moon
o February- Snow Moon or Hunger Moon
o March- Sap Moon, Crow Moon, or Lenten Moon
o April- Grass Moon or Egg Moon
o May- Milk Moon or Planting Moon
o June- Rose Moon, Flower Moon, or Strawberry Moon
o July- Thunder Moon or Hay Moon
o August- Grain Moon or Green Corn Moon
o September- Fruit Moon or Harvest Moon
o October- Harvest Moon or Hunter’s Moon
o November- Hunter’s Moon, Frosty Moon, or Beaver Moon
o December- Moon Before Yule or Long Night Moon

Have students act out the phases of the moon. Break the students up into groups of three,
one being the sun, one the moon, and the other the earth. Have the moon student walk
around the earth student as the earth student walks around the sun student. Talk with the
class about the different times you can see the entire moon student, half of the moon
student, and none of the moon student.
Vocabulary
Solar Eclipse: The view of the sun is blocked by the moon.
Lunar Eclipse: The view of the moon is blocked by the earth.
Full Moon: A full moon appears as an entire circle in the sky.
Waxing: The period of time in a lunar month when the moon is becoming more lit each
day (between new and full moon).
Waning: The period of time in a lunar month when the moon is becoming less lit each
day (between full and new moon).
Crescent: The period of time in a lunar month when the moon is less than half lit
(between last quarter and first quarter).
Gibbous: The period of time in a lunar month when the moon is more than half lit
(between first quarter and last quarter).
Blue Moon: When two full moons occur in a single month, the second full moon is called a
"Blue Moon." Another definition of the blue moon is the third full moon that occurs in a season
of the year which has four full moons (usually each season has only three full moons.)
Half Moon: A half moon looks like half a circle. It is sometimes called a quarter moon (this
Moon has completed one quarter of an orbit around the Earth from either the full or new position
and one quarter of the moon's surface is visible from Earth).
New Moon: The new moon is the phase of the moon when the moon is not visible from Earth,
because the side of the moon that is facing us is not being lit by the sun.
Bibliography
Branley, Frankly Mansfield. Moon Seems to Change. Harper Collins Children’s Books. 1987
Gibbons, Gail. The Moon Book. Holiday House Inc. 1998
Fowler, Allan. So That’s how the Moon Changes Shape! Scholastic Library. 1991
Olson, Gillia M. Phases of the Moon. Coughlan Publishing. 2006
Twist, Clint. The Moon. School Specialty Publishing. 2006
Moon Phases Letter to Parents
Dear Parents,
We have been studying the moon and its phases. We have learned the
names of each phase and what the moon looks like at each phase. Now
it is time for us to study the moon in the sky. As a bridge to what we
have been learning in class, we have asked students to look for the moon
in the sky when they are at home.
To make the moon observations, take your child outside at about the
same time each evening (when it is most easy to see the moon) and
observe. Take a few minutes to enjoy the night sky together. Talk about
what you see. If it’s clear, you will see starts too and you might want to
point out a constellation or two, planets, and finally the moon. Discuss
the changes in the night sky and in the moon from the previous nights.
If you don’t see the moon during your time due to clouds, you might
want to look again during the day. You can check your local newspaper
to find out when the moon rises.
Have your child record his or her moon observation on the Moon Phases
Calendar (attached) each night. To make a complete entry your child
needs to fill in the time, draw and shade the moon, and label what phase
the moon is in. Bring the calendars back to school in one month for
discussion and comparisons.
Thanks for your help!
(Example)
14
8:30pm
First Quarter Moon