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

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 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? Page 2 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 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. 2. Before launching moon journals, make sure you’ve taught your students the basics of scientific sketching (see lesson plan on Academy website). 3. Make copies of “Moon Journal Instructions,” 1 per student 4. When it comes time for the kinesthetic modeling, find a way to make your room (or another room in the building) as dark as possible. 5. Prepare all materials for modeling activity: wrap the oranges in white balloons and skewer them onto the pencils. 6. When it comes time for question sorting, make four posters for the four types of questions: Questions to Test, Questions to Ponder, Questions to Research, and Questions Already Answered. PART 1: MOON JOURNALS (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