The Earth / Moon / Sun System

NC Standard:  3.04, 3.05

Activity:  Studying the Moon

Question: How do we observe the moon?

Vocabulary: reflection, phases, surface, binoculars, telescope

Background: The moon is the only known natural body in space that travels along with the Earth in its orbit around the sun. The moon is closer to Earth than any other known natural object in space. The light we see from the moon at night is light that the moon reflects from the sun. The closeness of the moon, and the amount of sunlight it reflects to the Earth, makes the moon the largest and brightest object in the night sky. The moon is often bright enough to be visible through the day as well. It was only natural that early civilizationswould be fascinated by the moon, and curious about its trip through the sky. Many thought the moon was a god, or the home of a god. Even the word "lunar" comes from the Roman moon-goddess Luna, and is a word we often use to describe things about the moon. The spacecraft that landed people on the moon was called the lunar module.
The moon orbits around the Earth once every 27-30 days. During this time, the moon moves eastward about 13° per day (just bigger than a fist at arm's length), making the time of moonrise later each day. From Earth, we see it as the moon changing position in the sky and changing the percent of the illuminated side we are able to see (called phases). At any given time, half the moon has sunlight hitting it (the day side of the moon) and the half not facing the sun is dark. How much of the illuminated moon we can see from Earth determines the phase of the moon. The basic phases are New, First Quarter, Full, Last Quarter, and back to New. First Quarter occurs and we continue to see more of the moon until we can see the entire illuminated side at Full Moon. The phases move to Last Quarter, and then the New Moon and we begin the cycle all over again. As the moon orbits around the Earth, it also rotates on its axis. We only see one side of the moon because it keeps the same side facing Earth. If it didn't rotate as it orbited Earth, we would see both sides of the moon. The side we see from Earth is the "nearside of the moon" and the side we never see from Earth is the "far side of the moon".

Procedure: 

Read the following book:

The Moon and Other Objects in the Sky By Adi & Woops

This explains how scientists study the moon.

Sometimes the moon is visible during the day. If so, use binoculars, telescope, and the naked eye to observe surface features.

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Line of Learning:  This line is drawn to provide students with a space to share their experimental learning in words or pictures.
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