Objective
To better understand our Moon as a natural satellite.
Skills Focus
Visual discrimination, sequence and patterns, and logical thinking; language arts development through journal writing and oral communication.
|
Key Words:
|
phase
|
waxing
|
crescent
|
full Moon
|
|
|
new Moon
|
gibbous Moon
|
craters
|
waning
|
Long ago, people believed a man’s face could be seen in the Moon or that the Moon was made of cheese. Many of these folkloric tales have resulted from man’s lack of understanding of the Moon. But much time has passed, and we have become a bit wiser.
On July 20, 1969, Astronaut Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon. Numerous rock samples have been brought back to Earth for observation. Through space travel and years of scientific research, scientists have learned much about the Moon’s surface. We know it has no atmosphere nor wand plains. (What was once thought to be the “face of a man” and “cheese” are actually shadows cast by mountains, valleys and craters on the Moon’s surface.) Scientists have also learned that there is no life on the Moon.
The Moon is our closest neighbor in space, yet it is far away from Earth. It looks huge because it is so close to us. If, however, we were to put the Earth alongside the Moon, the two would respectively look like a basketball and a tennis ball side-by-side. The Moon is the brightest object in our night sky, yet it gives off no light of its own. When the Moon shines, it is actually reflecting light from the Sun—somewhat like a highway reflector when car lights hit it. Ever notice that at times, the Moon looks like a bright round plate, and at other times, its shaped like a crescent roll. Then it looks like a capital D. These different shapes are known as phases of the Moon. As the Earth revolves around the Sun, the Moon orbits the Earth. Depending upon the location between the Earth and the Sun, the Moon appears to change shape, but it really isn’t.
Although the Moon takes on many phases, there are four basic ones to know: new, first quarter, full and third quarter. When the Moon is new, it lays between the Earth and the Sun. The side that is shining is not visible from our planet at this time. When the Moon is 1/4 of the way through its orbit, we see a shape like a crescent. The crescent continues to grow. When the Moon is at its highest point in the sky, we see half of the Sunlit side. It is said that the Moon is
waxing
that is, appearing to get larger. The Moon continues to grow. When it looks like a stretched out letter D, it is said to be a
waxing gibbous Moon
. When the Moon is
full
, we see that large white circle in the night sky. The side of the Moon that is receiving Sunlight is now facing our planet, thus we experience its splendor! Days pass, and the size of the Moon appears to grow smaller. It is waning: The Moon phases repeat themselves in reverse until we see no Moon at all. Back to a new Moon, the phase cycles begin again.
