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Earth's Moon - It's Just a Phase I'm Going Through!

Journal Entry - Take out your science journal and answer the following question (use drawings as appropriate):

What are shapes of the moon you have observed?

Materials:

  • Two-inch Styrofoam ball mounted on a bamboo skewer for each student (moon).
  • Lamp (sun).

Procedure:

  1. Place lamp in the center of the room.
  2. Give each student a "moon."
  3. Students stand in a circle around the sun.
  4. Students represent Earth. Have them face the sun and observe how their moon looks. (It should be completely dark, which shows the new moon phase.)
  5. Have the students make a quarter-turn to their left. Observe how their moon now looks. (It should be a crescent moon.)
  6. Students make another quarter-turn to the left. Their moon should be half-shaded for the first quarter.
  7. Have the students keep doing quarter-turns until they have seen all of the moon’s phases.
Utah State Office of Education This Sci-ber Text was developed by the Utah State Office of Education and Glen Westbroek.