MOON JOURNAL
Does the moon always look the same? Have you ever wondered why it changes colors and shapes? Now is your chance to find out.
Information about the moon:
The moon orbits around the Earth approximately 29.5 days. Because of this, the moon rises later every day/night and its phases changes a little bit every day/night.
The phase of the moon is determined by the angle between the sun and the moon in the sky. As the moon orbits the Earth, sometimes the moon appears close to the sun in the sky (crescent phase), and sometimes it's far from the sun in the sky (gibbous or full phase). Because the moon is a sphere, half of the moon is lit up by the sun at any given time, but we can't always see the side that sun is shinning on. So the phase we see on the Earth depends on how much of the sunlit side of the moon we can see.
Information about the moon:
The moon orbits around the Earth approximately 29.5 days. Because of this, the moon rises later every day/night and its phases changes a little bit every day/night.
The phase of the moon is determined by the angle between the sun and the moon in the sky. As the moon orbits the Earth, sometimes the moon appears close to the sun in the sky (crescent phase), and sometimes it's far from the sun in the sky (gibbous or full phase). Because the moon is a sphere, half of the moon is lit up by the sun at any given time, but we can't always see the side that sun is shinning on. So the phase we see on the Earth depends on how much of the sunlit side of the moon we can see.
Goal:YOUR goal for this activity is to create a moon journal. For the next 2 weeks you will be making observations of the moon. Your job is NOT to explain what causes the moon to change phases, but to simply make OBSERVATIONS of the moon.
|
Tips And Information To Consider:Sometimes we see the moon in the daytime, sometimes we see the moon at night, and sometimes we can't see the moon in either the day or night sky.
We see a pattern in the changes in the Moon's apparent shape which takes about a month. The pattern of change observed in the shape of this illuminated portion of the visible side of the moon is what is called the Phases of the Moon. The moon is not always in the same place int he sky each day/night. The moon rises, on average, approximately 50 minutes later each day/night. |
Activity:You will be creating a Moon Journal based on your observations of the moon. Remember this will be YOUR journal of YOUR observation to share with me. You can make your journal as fun and creative as you want. You can write down about your observations, take pictures, draw, cut different moon phases magazines or any other pictures you may find.
|
References/Resources
moon_journal_activity_pamphlet.pdf | |
File Size: | 73 kb |
File Type: |
moon_journal_lesson_plan.doc | |
File Size: | 67 kb |
File Type: | doc |