Why does the moon seem to
change?
Vocabulary
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Moon
Orbit
New moon
First quarter moon
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Crater
Crescent moon
Last quarter moon
Full Moon
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=AQRNzepe4wI
What is the moon?
• The moon is a huge ball of rock that moves in
an orbit around the Earth.
• Orbit= travel around
• The moon doesn’t give off it’s own light like
stars, it reflects light from the sun.
• The part you can see of the moon’s lit side
changes each night.
• The phases, or shapes you see, change as the
moon moves.
• What is the surface of the Moon like?
• The surface of the moon has many things on it
such as craters, mountains, and valleys.
Scientists believe the craters were formed years
ago by meteors hitting the moon's surface.
• Craters are the remains of collisions between an
asteroid, comet, or meteorite.
What?
Phases of the Moon
• The new moon occurs when the moon and the sun are
on the same side of Earth. We see the side which is not
lit, so the moon appears dark to us
• You can tell when the moon is first quarter because the
sun lit side is on the right side as shown on the right.
• A third or last quarter moon shows the sunlit side of
the moon on the left.
• At a full moon, the earth, moon, and sun are in
alignment, just as the new moon, but the moon is on
the opposite side of the earth, so the entire sunlit part
of the moon is facing us.
• How many days are there between phases?
How many days are there between
phases?
• About 1 week
• about 3-4 days
• The changes follow a pattern that repeats
about every 29 days.
Break up into groups
•Group 1- seat work- Page 14-15 in workbook, Moon Phases
Worksheet,If I took a trip to the moon…,word search with
vocabulary words
•Group 2 – Will use the ball (The moon) and flashlight (The
sun). One student will hold ball above head and turn slowly
counter clockwise. The other student will hold flashlight and
be able to see the differences in the phases of the moon as
the other student slowly turns in a circle.
-Full moon- is bright
-New moon- is dark
•Group 3- demonstrate the different phases of the moon by
scraping off the crème on the inside of the cookie. Each
student will have a different phase of the moon to represent.
What causes the change in moon
phases?
• The phases of the Moon depend on its position in
relation to the Sun and Earth. As the Moon makes
its way around the Earth, we see the bright parts
of the Moon's surface at different angles. These
are called "phases" of the Moon.
• The Moon appears to change shape but what we
are actually seeing is the Moon lit up by the light
from the Sun in different ways on different days.
Review
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We can see the Moon because light from the Sun bounces off it back to the Earth.
If the Sun wasn't there, we wouldn't be able to see the Moon.
The Sun always lights up (illuminates) one side of the Moon.
New Moon- The side of the moon facing the Earth is not illuminated.
First Quarter- During first quarter, 1/2 of the moon is visible for the first half of the evening, and then goes
down, leaving the sky very dark.
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Full Moon -When we can observe the entire face of the moon, we call it a Full Moon.
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Last Quarter -During a Last Quarter Moon we can see exactly 1/2 of the Moon's lighted surface.
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If you were to see a quarter moon in the sky, how could you tell which
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quarter it was?
(When the right side is lighted, it is a first quarter. When the left side is lighted, it is the last quarter.)