2. Standards & elements
• S6E2. Students will understand the
effects of the relative positions of the
earth, moon and sun.
• a. Demonstrate the phases of the moon
by showing the alignment of the earth,
moon, and sun.
• b. Explain the alignment of the earth,
moon, and sun during solar and lunar
eclipses.

3. The Moon and You
• Meet your moon.
• What do we see?
• What does it do to Earth?
• What if you traveled to the moon?
• Where did it come from?

4. • How is the moon’s motion around the
Earth observed?

5. Check what you know:
Does the Moon orbit the Earth?
The Earth takes a year to orbit around the Sun.
What about the Moon? Does it orbit the Earth?
Circle the answer you think best describes the
motion of the Moon.
A. The Moon orbits the Earth about once a day.
B. The Moon orbits the Earth about once a week.
C. The Moon orbits the Earth about once a
month.
D. The Moon orbits the Earth about once a year.
E. The Moon does not orbit the Earth.
Uncovering Student Ideas in Astronomy pg 99

6. INTRODUCTION
It takes 29.5 days
for the Moon to
revolve around
the Earth and
we always see
that same side
of the moon.
(we never see
the back side)

7. Why do we have MOON PHASES?
Different amounts of sunlight
light up the moon and, from
Earth, makes the moon appear
to have “different shapes” or
phases.

8. How big is the Moon?
• Wall-e Learns about Proportions

9. Check what you know:
Seeing the Moon
How often have you looked up into the sky and
seen the Moon? Put an X next to all the times
when you think you can go outside and see the
Moon.
____ in the morning
____ at noon
____ in the middle of the afternoon
____ in the evening before sunset
____ in the evening after sunset
____ at midnight
Uncovering Student Ideas in Astronomy pg 91

10. What do we see?
• The Phases of the Moon
– New moon (0% No reflected light)
– Crescent (1-49% partly but less than
one-half illuminated by direct
sunlight.)
– Quarter (50%)
– Gibbous (51-99% more than one-half
but not fully illuminated by direct
sunlight. )
– Full moon (100% illuminated by
direct sunlight.)

11. B. Phases of the Moon (Draw what the phase looks like in the boxes
provided)
1.New Moon - earth cannot see any part of the moon (lasts one day)
2.Waxing Crescent - waxing means moon’s face is growing (lasts several days)
3.First quarter - right half of moon’s face is visible (lasts for only one day)
4.Waxing gibbous - more than 1/2 of moon’s face is visible (lasts several days)
5.Full moon – all of the moon’s face is visible (last for one day)
6.Waning gibbous - (last for several days)
7.Last quarter or Third quarter - left half of face is visible (lasts for only one day)
8. Waning crescent - waxing means moon’s face is shrinking (last for several days)

12. W all the crazy words for the moon phases?
hy
Most of these words are based in Latin or Greek (those dudes way back when that
started doing science and observing space!)
CRESCENT- like the shape, curve.
GIBBOUS- think bulging for those two “b”s in
the middle of the word. This shape is bigger
than half, but less than full.
WAXING- Think “Wax On” from Karate Kid. It
means getting bigger. Light is being
“added” and the moon is looking bigger
each day.
WANING- It means getting smaller. Since we
say “Way-ning”…. I think of it as “going
AWAY”. Moon appears to be “shrinking”
each day.

13. As the moon
moves
(revolves)
around the
Earth, it looks
like it has
different shapes.
The shape of
the moon does
not really
change. It just
changes its
location in
space.

14. The cycle continues with a
new moon…..

15. Check what you know:
Crescent Moon
When there is a crescent Moon in the night sky, how
much of the entire Moon’s spherical surface is
actually lit by the Sun? Circle the answer that
best matches your thinking.
A. Quarter or less of the entire Moon
B. Half of the entire Moon
C. Three quarters of the entire Moon
D. The entire Moon
Uncovering Student Ideas in Astronomy pg 127

16. Why do we see “phases” of the moon?
• NASA animation- Moon Phases in 2013
• View from Above
• Lunar Phase Simulator
• Brainpop

17. Check what you know:
Moon Phase and Solar Eclipse
During a solar eclipse the Moon appears to completely
cover the Sun. What phase is the Moon in just before
and after a solar eclipse? Circle the answer that best
matches your thinking.
A. Full Moon
B. New Moon
C. First quarter Moon
D. Last quarter Moon
E. It can be any phase.
Now, draw a diagram of where the Earth, Moon and Sun
will be during a SOLAR eclipse.
Uncovering Student Ideas in Astronomy pg 109

18. Solar Eclipse

19. Solar Eclipses
• Sun – the shadow of the moon on the earth
Total solar eclipse in 1999

20. What is a lunar eclipse?
• Now imagine what happens when you have the
sun, the Earth, and the moon all lined up in a
row. The Earth will end up blocking the rays of
the sun from reaching the moon. The Earth has
two shadows, one inside the other. The inner
shadow is called the umbra, and it's the darker
shadow. The penumbra is a wider shadow,
stretching out more to the sides, but it's not as
dark as the umbra. When the moon is in the
penumbra shadow of the Earth, we barely
notice that the moon is darkened. When the
moon is partly in the umbra shadow of the

21. A – total eclipse
B – annular eclipse
C – partial eclipse

22. Lunar Eclipses
• Moon – the shadow of the earth on the moon

23. Lunar Eclipse

24. Eclipses
• Have you seen eclipses?
• What are eclipses in nature?
– One celestial object casts its shadow on the other one
• Umbra: Inner core of total darkness the
disc of the Sun is completely blocked.
• Penumbra: Outer, partial shadow Sun's
disc is only partly blocked, with a bit
peeking over the edge.

25. What’s the moon phase when a solar eclipse occurs?
New Moon
What’s the moon phase when a lunar eclipse occurs?
Full Moon

26. Penumbra & Umbra illustration

27. Why aren’t there solar eclipses and lunar eclipses on EVERY
new moon and full moon?

28. Two conditions must be satisfied for an eclipse
to occur
1. The nodes of the moon’s orbit must be
nearly aligned with the Sun and the Earth
2. The phase of the moon must be new or
full

29. End Section One

30. Amazing video: Planets viewed from Earth
as if they were at the distance of our moon

31. What does the Moon do to Earth?

32. Check What You Know:
Tides
Sally and Ben had only recently moved to the little community of
Windy Bay. They were eager to explore the nearby sandy beach, and
especially adventure to the small rocky island a short distance
offshore. They could scarcely wait until Saturday morning when they
could explore the tide pools and rocky crevices of the island to look
for neat critters. They arose early and walked to the sand bar that
jutted onto the rocky island. At first they walked along the lower
beach looking into glassy blue tidepools, then searched the high tide
line for beach pebbles, empty snail shells, and glass balls. After
about three hours, Ben and Sally decided to return home. Much to
their surprise the connecting sand bar to the mainland was now
covered with seawater to a depth well up to their waist. They were
stuck. They were afraid to swim the distance because of the
surprisingly strong current, and it was too far for their yells to be
heard. Will Sally and Ben have to spend the rest of the day and the
night on the island? How long will they have to stay? Why?
https://sites.google.com/site/k12oceanliteracy/curricular-materials/5th-grade/tides-formative-assessment

33. What does the Moon do to Earth?
• Gives us light at night (depending on the phase.)
Which phase gives us the most light?
• Controls TIDES.
– Tides are different than WAVES. Tides are periodic.
They repeat and move the water at coastlines in and
out every few hours.
– Waves are caused by wind (and occasionally,
earthquakes, boats, etc.)
– Tides are caused by the pull (Gravity) of the Moon
and Sun on Earth’s fluids (water and atmosphere)

34. At certain times during the moon's When the gravitational pull of the moon
revolution around the Earth, the and Sun are at right angles to each
direction of its gravitational attraction is other, the daily tidal variations on the
aligned with the Sun's. During these Earth are at their least These events
times the two tide producing bodies act are called neap tides and they occur
together to create the highest and during the first and last quarter of the
lowest tides of the year. These spring moon.
tides occur every 14-15 days during
full and new moons.

35. Tide data- examples
Semi: half, or part
Diurnal: daytime
24 hrs: end day 1
48 hrs: end day 2
72 hrs: end day 3
96 hrs: end day 4
120 hrs: end day 5
Analyze moon-phase, eclipse, and tidal data to construct models that
explain how the relative positions and motions of the Sun, Earth, and Moon
cause these three phenomena. (NJCCCS 5.4.8.A.1)

36. Use the Tide Data graph on your notes sheet to answer these questions:
1. How many high tides are completed in the first day?
_____________________________________
2. What is the approximate height of high tide?
_________ of low tide? ___________
3. What pattern do you see in the tides over the 6 days
of this graph?
__________________________________________
________________________________________

37. What if you traveled to the moon?
• Gravity
• What it looks like up there

38. Your Weight on the Moon
Calculate your weight in Space

39. Earthrise and Earthset
Earthrise... then and now.

41. Check What You Know:
Phases of Earth
Name the phase of the Earth in this picture.

42. Where did the Moon come from?
How the Moon was born.
Billions of years ago, there were about 20 planets in our
solar system.
A Mars-sized planet named Thea crashed into Earth.
The debris from the crash was flung out into space and
formed a ring around Earth, held by Earth’s gravity.
The debris eventually collected into one ball as it orbited Earth,
and we now call it the Moon.