Moon Phases Investigation: Understanding Lunar Phases through Observations and Modeling | Schemes and Mind Maps Astronomy

GRADE LEVEL

SUBJECTS

DURATION

SETTING

Page 1

Moon Phases Investigation

5th-8th, Supporting PE MS-ESS1-1

Earth & Space Science, Developing and Using Models

Preparation: Varies Activity: At least 5 class periods

Outside, Classroom, Completely dark room

» gibbous: the figure of the moon that is more than half full,

looking swollen on one side

» crescent: the figure of the moon that appears as a curve

with pointy ends

» waxing: growing; describes the moon when the illuminated

portion is increasing.

» waning: shrinking; describes the moon when the

illuminated portion is decreasing.

BACKGROUND FOR EDUCATORS

Although everyone is familiar with a few predictable shapes

that our moon can take in the sky, misconceptions regarding

the cause of these phases abound. Stahly, Krockover and

Shepardson (1999), included a list of “five frequently occurring

notions featured by children aged 9-16 regarding the phases of

the moon”:

1.) Clouds cover the part of the moon that we cannot see.

2.) Planets cast shadows on the part of the moon that we

cannot see.

3.) The shadow of the sun falls on the moon, blocking our view

of it all.

4.) The shadow of the earth falls on the moon, blocking our

view.

5.) The phases are explained in terms of the portion of the

illuminated side of the moon visible from the earth (scientific

viewpoint).

So what causes the moon’s phases? Let’s begin with the basics.

The Moon is a natural satellite of planet Earth, taking about a

month to revolve all the way around our planet. Its orbit is very

nearly circular; it stays about 380,000 kilometers away from

us as it moves counterclockwise (as viewed from a northern

hemisphere perspective). It also stays fairly close to the Earth’s

equatorial plane (an imaginary extension of Earth’s equator out

into space).

MATERIALS

For every student:

Moon Journals Instructions

Science Notebook

“Earth or Moon Shadow” probe

For every group of 3-4 students:

1 pencil

1 orange

1 white balloon

1 inflatable globe

1 flashlight

For the class:

Post-it notes

4 large posters or wall space

SCIENTIFIC TERMS FOR STUDENTS

(wait until the end of the investigation to introduce this

conceptual vocabulary)

» lunar phase: one of the cyclically recurring apparent forms

of the moon

OBJECTIVES

Students will be able to:

1. use models of Earth, the Sun, and the Moon to

discover why moon phases occur.

2. understand and describe the order of the moon

phases from one full moon to the next.

Essential Question:

Why does the moon look different on different

days?

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Moon Phases Investigation 5th-8th, Supporting PE MS-ESS1-1 Earth & Space Science, Developing and Using Models Preparation: Varies Outside, Classroom, Completely dark room Activity: At least 5 class periods » » » » BACKGROUND FOR EDUCATORS Although everyone is familiar with a few predictable shapes that our moon can take in the sky, misconceptions regarding gibbous: looking swollen on one side crescent: with pointy ends waxing: portion is increasing. waning: illuminated portion is decreasing. growing; describes the moon when the illuminatedshrinking; describes the moon when the the figure of the moon that is more than half full, the figure of the moon that appears as a curve

the cause of these phases abound. Stahly, Krockover and Shepardson (1999), included a list of “five frequently occurring notions featured by children aged 9-16 regarding the phases of the moon”: 1.) Clouds cover the part of the moon that we cannot see. 2.) Planets cast shadows on the part of the moon that we cannot see. 3.) The shadow of the sun falls on the moon, blocking our view of it all. 4.) The shadow of the earth falls on the moon, blocking our view. 5.) The phases are explained in terms of the portion of the illuminated side of the moon visible from the earth (scientific viewpoint). So what causes the moon’s phases? Let’s begin with the basics. The Moon is a natural satellite of planet Earth, taking about a month to revolve all the way around our planet. Its orbit is very nearly circular; it stays about 380,000 kilometers away from us as it moves counterclockwise (as viewed from a northern hemisphere perspective). It also stays fairly close to the Earth’s equatorial plane (an imaginary extension of Earth’s equator out

MATERIALS For every student: For every group of 3-4 students: For the class: SCIENTIFIC TERMS FOR STUDENTS (wait until the end of the investigation to introduce this » conceptual vocabulary) lunar phase: of the moonMoon Journals InstructionsScience Notebook“Earth or Moon Shadow” probe1 pencil1 orange1 white balloon1 inflatable globe1 flashlightPost-it notes4 large posters or wall space one of the cyclically recurring apparent forms into space).

Why does the moon look different on different days?^ Students will be able to:^ 1.^ 2.^ Essential Question:^ OBJECTIVES^ discover why moon phases occur.^ phases from one full moon to the next.use models of Earth, the Sun, and the Moon tounderstand and describe the order of the moon

Moon Phases Investigation quarter moon has its left side illuminated. Note: the diagram is not to scale; in reality, the Moon is 1/4 the diameter of the Earth and its orbit’s width is about 60 times the Earth’s diameter. Illustration credit: Astronomical Society of the Pacific For more information, see: A Private Universe Project: http://www.learner.org/ teacherslab/pup/act_moonphase.html Moon Phases Diagrams: http://www.astrosociety.org/education/ publications/tnl/12/12.html Parts of this lesson are adapted from the Kinesthetic Astronomy program developed by the Space Science Institute, 2004. TEACHER PREP 1. Pay attention to the phases of the moon and your local

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. PART 1: MOON JOURNALS weather forecast to select an optimal time to start this^ unit. It’s best to start with a whole-class observation of^ the moon during the school day, so select a date to start^ when the moon will be visible during the day and not^ obscured by fog or cloud-cover. your students the basics of scientific sketching (see lesson plan on Academy website). way to make your room (or another room in the building) as dark as possible. oranges in white balloons and skewer them onto the pencils. posters for the four types of questions: Questions to Test, Questions to Ponder, Questions to Research, and Questions Already Answered.Before launching moon journals, make sure you’ve taughtMake copies of “Moon Journal Instructions,” 1 per studentWhen it comes time for the kinesthetic modeling, find aPrepare all materials for modeling activity: wrap theWhen it comes time for question sorting, make four (1 MONTH OF

HOMEWORK, 3 IN-SCHOOL SESSIONS OF ~20 MINUTES)

As you may expect, the Moon doesn’t just revolve around the earth, it also rotates about its own axis – but in quite an interesting fashion. Over the millennia, the Moon has become “locked” into a special kind of motion around the Earth. It rotates on its axis at the same pace as it revolves around the Earth. As a result, the Moon keeps the same face toward us throughout its orbit. (Watching a video is perhaps the best illustration of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZIB_ leg75Q). So, you may often hear astronomers talk of the “near side” and “far side” of the moon. While Earthlings can only view the near side, astronauts and spacecraft have successfully taken images of the far side. Note that there is not actually a “dark side” of the Moon – with this demonstration, you’ll see how the sun’s rays will strike the entire surface! Figure 1: The pictures are shown from a northern hemisphere perspective. Those of us who live in the northern hemisphere generally look south to see the Moon when it’s highest in the sky, and we see the right-hand side illuminated at first quarter phase, for example. People who live in temperate or high latitudes south of the equator must look toward the north; to them the first

Moon Phases Investigation 5. 6. • • • poster and give them a chance to return to the model to answer that question. If they answer it successfully, they can move it to the “Questions Already Answered” poster. focus question, explaining everything they understand now about what causes the moon to look different on different days. questions on the posters:Give students time to record their final answer to theYou have several options for handling the remainingGive students an opportunity to research the “Questions to Research.”Make a class picture book out of the “Questions to Ponder”Invite an astronomy expert to visit the class to help answer some of the remaining questions.

WRAP UP: TRACKING OUR LEARNING (25 MINUTES) 1. 2. such as gibbous, crescent, waxing, waning. notebooks, guided by the prompt: “How have the activities we’ve done helped you to understand the phases of the moon?”Introduce any scientific terms you’d like students to learn,Ask students to reflect on their learning in their

• • 5. PART 4: QUESTION SORTING MINUTES) 1. (^) question in their notebooks. Encourage them to use words and drawings to explain their thinking.Have students record their current answer to the focusHave students read through their moon journals and copyWhat did you figure out?What are you thinking now?What are some of the limitations of this model? (^) (60+

• • • • 3. 4.^ CONNECTION: This portion of the lesson connects to the^ Practice of Developing and Using Models because students are^ asked to develop a model of the earth-moon-sun system. They^ use the model to better understand why the appearance of the^ moon changes, from the perspective of earth, over the course^ of a month.^ NGSS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES^ each question they recorded on a separate post-it note. questions, in order to decide how we might answer them. Introduce the four categories: appropriate posters, according to the type of question on each. Give students a chance to look over their classmates’ questions as well.Explain to students that it can be useful to sort ourInstruct students to place their post-it notes on theHave each group select a “Question to Test” from theQuestions to Test are questions we can use our model to answer. An example of a testable question would be, “Why do we sometimes see a crescent moon?”Questions to Research are questions we can look up in a book or online, such as, “How many moons does Jupiter have?”Questions to Ponder are questions that we think nobody knows the answer to, such as “Will earth ever lose its moon?”Questions already answered are any questions the group feels they answered with the first round of modeling.^ CONNECTION: This portion of the lesson connects to the^ Practice of Asking Questions and Defining Problems because^ students ask questions that can be investigated within the^ scope of the classroom, and distinguish testable questions^ from non-testable questions.^ NGSS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING PRACTICES

Moon Phases Investigation STANDARDS ADDRESSED Next Generation Science Standards Asking Questions and Defining Problems 6-8: investigated within the scope of the classroom, outdoor environment, and museums and other public facilities with available resources and, when appropriate, frame a hypothesis based on observations and scientific principles. Developing and Using Models Science and Engineering Practices Ask questions that can be Disciplinary Core Ideas Crosscutting Concepts Related Performance Expectations Remember, performance expectations are not a set of instructional or assessment tasks. They are statements of what students should be able to do after instruction. This activity or unit is just one of many that could help prepare your students to perform the following hypothetical tasks that demonstrate their understanding: MS-ESS1-1 lunar phases, eclipses of the sun and moon, and seasons. [Clarification Statement: Examples of models can be physical, graphical, or conceptual.]^ 6-8:^ describe phenomena.^ Develop a model to predict and/or Develop and use a model of the Earth-sun-moon system to describe the cyclic patterns of^ ESS1.A: The Universe and Its Stars^ Patterns of the apparent motion of the^ sun, the moon, and stars in the sky can^ be observed, described, predicted, and^ explained with models.^ Patterns^ 6-8:^ cause-and-effect relationships.^ Patterns can be used to identify

Moon Phases Investigation: Understanding Lunar Phases through Observations and Modeling, Schemes and Mind Maps of Astronomy

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Download Moon Phases Investigation: Understanding Lunar Phases through Observations and Modeling and more Schemes and Mind Maps Astronomy in PDF only on Docsity!

GRADE LEVEL SUBJECTS DURATION SETTING

Why does the moon look different on different days?^ Students will be able to:^ 1.^ 2.^ Essential Question:^ OBJECTIVES^ discover why moon phases occur.^ phases from one full moon to the next.use models of Earth, the Sun, and the Moon tounderstand and describe the order of the moon

HOMEWORK, 3 IN-SCHOOL SESSIONS OF ~20 MINUTES)