The Moon and its Phases

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The Moon and its Phases
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Have you noticed that

• The moon changes shape from one night to the
  next?
• The changes in the shape of the moon are called
  the phases of the moon.

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The moon changes from a new moon to a full moon
and back again once every 29 ½ days.
When the moon looks like it is growing bigger, we
say it is waxing.
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When it looks like it is shrinking, we say it is
waning.
When you cant see the moon at all, it is called
a new moon and the phase begins again.
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Lets Demonstrate The Moons Great Disappearing
Act!
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We will need

• 1 basketball

• 1 flashlight

• 1 sticky note

• And 2 volunteers

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What are they?????????????

• represents the
  sun
• represents the
  moon
• represents the
  earth

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Demonstration Steps

• Volunteer 1 Hold the flashlight.
• Volunteer 2 Place the sticky note on the
  basketball. Hold the ball up and away from your
  body so that the sticky note is facing you and
  you are looking up a little to see the ball.

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• Volunteer with flashlight
• Stand in front (a few feet away) of the
  student holding the ball. Shine the light on the
  ball.

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Someone, turn off the lights!

• Student holding ball The ball (moon) is dark on
  the side you see. This is a new moon.

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Moon, slowly turn counterclockwise until you
see a small sliver of light on the ball. This is
a crescent moon.
Remember, as the moon grows larger, it is
described as waxing.
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Continue turning until a little more of the ball
is illuminated. This is a first-quarter moon.
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Turn just a little bit further.
After the first-quarter phase, the moon is called
gibbous, which means humpbacked. Can you guess
why?
Gibbous Moon Waxing
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Continue turning, until all of the side you can
see is illuminated. This is a full moon.
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Slowly keep turning!
The lit surface begins to wane, or grows smaller.
The moon is described as waning gibbous.
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Continue slowly turning. Stop when you see about
one-half of the ball.

• The moon is now described as a third-quarter or
  last-quarter moon.

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Keep turning until you see another crescent moon.
Remember me? Im now referred to as a waning
crescent moon.
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Continue turning until the ball is dark on the
side you see.
The lunar cycle starts again. Its sunlit side
is facing away from Earth.
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Questions

• Did the ball (moon) ever get smaller when it was
  rotating around Earth?

What did change that made the moon appear to
change shapes?
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• The amount of visible sunlight hitting the moon
  changes. This makes the moon appear to change
  shapes.

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Illinois Learning Standards

• A. Know and apply the concepts, principles and
  processes of scientific inquiry.
• 11.A.1a Describe an observed event.
• D. Know and apply concepts that describe force
  and motion and the principles that explain them.
• 12.D.1a Identify examples of motion (e.g.,
  rotating).

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Illinois Learning Standards

• F. Know and apply concepts that explain the
  composition and structure of the universe and the
  Earths place in it.
• 12.F.1a Identify and describe characteristics of
  the sun, Earth and moon as familiar objects in
  our solar system.

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