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Understanding the Lunar Phases: A 6th Grade Activity, Summaries of Astrophysics

Background information and instructions for a 6th grade activity aimed at helping students understand the lunar phases. The activity involves creating a model of the Earth-sun-moon system and using a transparency poster to demonstrate the changing angles of the earth, moon, and sun as the moon orbits the earth. Students will also create a moon phases flip book and engage in extension activities such as games and math problems. objectives, background information for teachers, procedures, and assessment methods.

Typology: Summaries

2021/2022

Uploaded on 09/27/2022

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Seeing & Explaining Patterns in the Moon’s Phases
6th grade post-Sly Park Experience Activity
Content Standards:
NGSS
MS-ESS1-1 Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe cyclic pattern
of lunar phases
Objectives:
SWBAT demonstrate a working knowledge of how the moon phases are created.
SWBAT explain a graphed representation of a lunar phase.
Background Info for Teachers: Info from: moonconnection.com
Looking at the poster (https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/concepts/es_transparencies_21.pdf):
Sunlight is shown coming in from the right. The earth, of course, is at the center of the diagram. The moon is
shown at 8 key stages during its revolution around the earth. The moon phase name is shown alongside the
image. The dotted line from the earth to the moon represents your line of sight when looking at the moon.
The large moon image shows what you would see at that point in the cycle. For the waning gibbous, third
quarter, and waning crescent phases you have to mentally turn yourself upside down when imagining the
line of sight. When you do this, you'll "see" that the illuminated portion is on your left, just as you see in the large
image.
One important thing to notice is that exactly one half of the moon is always illuminated by the sun. Of course that
is perfectly logical, but you need to visualize it in order to understand the phases. At certain times we see both the
sunlit portion and the shadowed portion -- and that creates the various moon phase shapes we are all familiar with.
Also note that the shadowed part of the moon is invisible to the naked eye; in the diagram above, it is only shown
for clarification purposes. Finally, please realize this diagram is only meant to demonstrate how the phases work;
the small inner moons in the diagram do not show the fact that the same side of the moon always faces Earth.
So the basic explanation is that the lunar phases are created by changing angles (relative positions) of the earth,
the moon and the sun, as the moon orbits the earth.
If you'd like to examine the phases of the moon more closely, via computer software, you may be interested in
this moon phases calendar software.
Moon Phases Simplified
It's probably easiest to understand the moon cycle in this order: new moon and full moon, first quarter and third
quarter, and the phases in between.
As shown in the above diagram, the new moon occurs when the moon is positioned between the earth and sun.
The three objects are in approximate alignment (why "approximate" is explained below). The entire illuminated
portion of the moon is on the back side of the moon, the half that we cannot see.
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Seeing & Explaining Patterns in the Moon’s Phases

6th grade post-Sly Park Experience Activity

Content Standards:

 NGSS

MS-ESS1-1 Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe cyclic pattern

of lunar phases

Objectives :

 SWBAT demonstrate a working knowledge of how the moon phases are created.

 SWBAT explain a graphed representation of a lunar phase.

Background Info for Teachers: Info from: moonconnection.com

Looking at the poster (https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/concepts/es_transparencies_21.pdf):

Sunlight is shown coming in from the right. The earth, of course, is at the center of the diagram. The moon is shown at 8 key stages during its revolution around the earth. The moon phase name is shown alongside the image. The dotted line from the earth to the moon represents your line of sight when looking at the moon. The large moon image shows what you would see at that point in the cycle. For the waning gibbous, third quarter, and waning crescent phases you have to mentally turn yourself upside down when imagining the line of sight. When you do this, you'll "see" that the illuminated portion is on your left, just as you see in the large image.

One important thing to notice is that exactly one half of the moon is always illuminated by the sun. Of course that is perfectly logical, but you need to visualize it in order to understand the phases. At certain times we see both the sunlit portion and the shadowed portion -- and that creates the various moon phase shapes we are all familiar with. Also note that the shadowed part of the moon is invisible to the naked eye; in the diagram above, it is only shown for clarification purposes. Finally, please realize this diagram is only meant to demonstrate how the phases work; the small inner moons in the diagram do not show the fact that the same side of the moon always faces Earth.

So the basic explanation is that the lunar phases are created by changing angles (relative positions) of the earth, the moon and the sun, as the moon orbits the earth.

If you'd like to examine the phases of the moon more closely, via computer software, you may be interested in this moon phases calendar software.

Moon Phases Simplified

It's probably easiest to understand the moon cycle in this order: new moon and full moon, first quarter and third quarter, and the phases in between.

As shown in the above diagram, the new moon occurs when the moon is positioned between the earth and sun. The three objects are in approximate alignment (why "approximate" is explained below). The entire illuminated portion of the moon is on the back side of the moon, the half that we cannot see.

At a full moon , the earth, moon, and sun are in approximate 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. The shadowed portion is entirely hidden from view.

The first quarter and third quarter moons (both often called a " half moon "), happen when the moon is at a 90 degree angle with respect to the earth and sun. So we are seeing exactly half of the moon illuminated and half in shadow.

Once you understand those four key moon phases, the phases between should be fairly easy to visualize, as the illuminated portion gradually transitions between them.

An easy way to remember and understand those "between" lunar phase names is by breaking out and defining 4 words: crescent, gibbous, waxing, and waning. The word crescent refers to the phases where the moon is less than half illuminated. The word gibbous refers to phases where the moon is more than half illuminated. Waxing essentially means "growing" or expanding in illumination, and waning means "shrinking" or decreasing in illumination.

Thus you can simply combine the two words to create the phase name, as follows: After the new moon, the sunlit portion is increasing, but less than half, so it is waxing crescent. After the first quarter, the sunlit portion is still increasing, but now it is more than half, so it is waxing gibbous. After the full moon (maximum illumination), the light continually decreases. So the waning gibbous phase occurs next. Following the third quarter is the waning crescent , which wanes until the light is completely gone -- a new moon.

The Moon's Orbit

[Material deleted] Also, looking at the diagram (and imagining it to scale), you may have wondered why, at a new moon, the moon doesn't block the sun, and at a full moon, why the earth doesn't block sunlight from reaching the moon. The reason is because the moon's orbit about the earth is about 5 degrees off from the earth-sun orbital plane.

However, at special times during the year, the earth, moon, and sun do in fact "line up." When the moon blocks the sun or a part of it, it's called a solar eclipse , and it can only happen during the new moon phase. When the earth casts a shadow on the moon, it's called a lunar eclipse , and can only happen during the full moon phase. Roughly 4 to 7 eclipses happen in any given year, but most of them minor or "partial" eclipses. Major lunar or solar eclipses are relatively uncommon.

Great Printable/Projectable Poster https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/concepts/es_transparencies_21.pdf

Materials:

 Transparency Poster https://www.teachervision.com/tv/printables/concepts/es_transparencies_21.pdf  moon phases flip book (1 copy per student on white card stock +5 more for game)/1 teacher copy with answers http://www.pedagonet.com/quickies/MoonPhases.pdf  colored pencils/crayons  protractors or basic knowledge of 180, 135, 90, 45 degree angles  8 each: flashlight(sun), tennis ball(earth), ping pong ball (moon) OR 8 copies of the 1st material poster

Lunar Phase Graph

New Waxing crescent

First Quarter

Waxing Gibbous

Full Waning Gibbous

Last Quarter

Waning Crescent

New

Moon Phase ID cards on next two pages

New Moon Waxing Crescent

First Quarter Waxing Gibbous