Phases of the Moon
Pace High School, Manhattan
Summer Research Program for Science Teachers
August 2007
Unit: Astronomy
Duration: 1 period; two week field work project
Aim: How are the motions of the Earth, the moon, and the sun, related to the moon’s phases?
Objectives:
understand why the Moon seems to change shape
create phases of the moon diagram
create a moon journal
Materials:
Paper
Light Source
Styrofoam Balls
Colored Pencils
Markers
Procedure:
Do Now: Why does the
moon seem to change shape?
1.
Working
with a partner, have one person hold a ball in front of a source of light.
Pretend the ball is the moon and the students, standing side by side, are
the Earth. While one student is
holding the moon, both students should begin to rotate so that the moon
‘revolves’ around them. When the moon is in between the sun and the Earth, the
ball should look dark (new moon). Note when you see the different phases of the
moon. The first student should sketch how the moons lighted portion changes it
revolves around Earth.
2.
Discuss
why we see different moon phases.
3.
Discuss
how waxing means for the lighted part to grow, and waning means for the lighted
part to shrink.
4.
As a
class, create a diagram on the overhead of the 8 moon phases from class
observations. Understand how the
phases are cyclical.
5.
Discuss
and create the journal students will use to observe the moon for two weeks.
6.
On the
first page of the journal create a diagram showing the 8 phases of the moon.
Vocabulary:
Waxing, waning, gibbous, crescent, phases
Outcome/Homework:
Begin observing the night sky.
Standards:
Earth Science Standard 4 - Key Idea 1.1