The Earth and the Moon

   Emily  Atkinson  Grade:  3    Objective:  Students  will  understand  that  the  shape  of  Earth  and  the  moon  are  spherical  and  that  Earth  rotates  on  its  axis  to  produce  the  appearance  of  the  sun  and  moon  moving  through  the  sky.  Describe  the  appearance  of  Earth  and  the  moon.  Describe  the  movement  of  Earth  and  the  moon  and  the  apparent  movement  of  other  bodies  through  the  sky.    http://www.flashearth.com/  Here  is  a  view  of  the  Earth  from  space!      Before  clicking  on  the  next  link,  list  some  things  you  already  know  about  Earth:              http://www.frontiernet.net/~kidpower/earth.html  A. Here  are  some  facts  about  Earth.  Maybe  there  are  some  things  you  didn’t  even  know  about!    

1. How  many  days  does  it  take  the  Earth  to  make  one  COMPLETE  orbit  around  the  sun?    

2. How  much  of  Earth  is  covered  by  water?  

 3. How  many  satellites  does  Earth  have?  What  is  it  called?  

   http://www.onr.navy.mil/focus/spacesciences/observingsky/motion1.htm  Motion  of  the  Earth    Click  play  to  watch  the  motion  of  the  Earth    http://www.windows2universe.org/the_universe/uts/earth2.html  B. Earth’s  rotation  

1. What  is  the  Earth  rotating  on?    

2. Is  Earth  on  a  vertical  or  horizontal  axis?  To  what  degrees  is  it  “tipped”?  

   

 3. How  long  does  it  take  Earth  to  make  on  full  rotation?  What  do  we  call  one  rotation?  

   http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/dr-­‐marc-­‐earth/en/  Ask  Dr.  Marc  about  the  rotation  of  the  Sun  and  Moon!  Click  on  the  link  that  says  “Why  is  Earth  rotating?  Did  it  always  have  the  same  rotation  period?  Will  it  always  have  the  same  rotation  period?”  Before  clicking  the  next  link,  list  some  things  Dr.  Marc  said  about  why  the  Earth  rotates  and  its  rotational  period:              http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/moons_and_rings.html  C. The  Moon  –  facts  and  information    

1. What  is  another  name  for  the  Moon?  (First  sentence)  What  is  it’s  diameter?      

2. How  many  regions  make  up  the  Moon?  What  kinds  of  regions  are  they?        

3. What  is  the  Moon’s  top  layer  made  of?      

   

4. What  is  under  the  Moon’s  top  layer?        Go  back  to  Dr.  Marc!  What  does  he  have  to  say  about  the  Moon?  http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/dr-­‐marc-­‐earth/en/  

What  does  he  know  about  our  Moon?  List  some  things  Dr.  Marc  says  about  the  moon.        

         http://btc.montana.edu/ceres/html/Birthday/birthdayphases.html  D. The  Phases  of  the  Moon  

1. Define  what  PHASES  are:      

2. How  long  is  the  Moon’s  complete  cycle?    

3. How  many  phases  of  the  Moon  are  there?  What  are  they  called?            

4. What  are  some  other  names  for  these  phases?  (Bottom  of  the  page)    

         http://www.fearofphysics.com/SunMoon/phases.html  E. Causes  of  the  Moon  Phases  

1. Because  the  Moon’s  light  is  just  a  reflection  from  the  Sun,  what  causes  the  Moon  phases?  

     

http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/moon_phases/  Watch  the  Phases  of  the  Moon!  Now  that  you  know  what  each  phase  looks  like  tonight,  look  at  the  moon  and  see  what  phase  it  is  in!  Come  back  to  school  tomorrow  with  an  answer  and  a  picture  you  have  drawn  of  the  moon.      

   http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/9_10/earth_sun_moon.shtml  F. Watch  this  video  on  how  the  Earth,  Moon  and  Sun  all  rotate  together!  Make  FULL  SCREEN,  Click  PLAY  and  play  with  the  number  of  hours,  days  and  months  

1. Can  you  make  the  Earth  orbit  just  once  around  the  Sun?  How  many  MONTHS  does  it  take?    

 2. Can  you  make  the  Moon  orbit  just  once  around  the  Earth?  How  many  DAYS  does  this  

take?      

3. Can  you  make  the  Earth  turn  just  once  on  its  axis?  How  many  HOURS  does  this  take?      

4. Click  on  LABELS  and  then  click  on  each  magnifying  glass  to  find  out  more  details  about  the  Earth,  Moon  and  Sun.  

 

   

Answer  Sheet  A. Facts  about  the  Earth  

1. Makes  one  complete  orbit  around  the  Sun  every  365.27  days.  2. Is  mostly  covered  by  water  (75%).  3. Has  a  total  of  1  satellite  (the  Moon).  

B. Earth’s  Rotation  1. The  Earth  is  rotating  around  an  axis  (called  its  rotational  axis).  2. Some  objects  rotate  about  a  horizontal  axis,  like  a  rolling  log.  Some  objects,  such  

as  a  skater,  rotate  about  a  vertical  axis.  The  Earth's  axis  is  tipped  over  about  23.5°  from  vertical  

3. The  Earth  rotates  around  once  in  24  hours  -­‐  that's  a  rate  of  1000  miles  per  hour!.  The  time  it  takes  for  the  Earth  to  rotate  completely  around  once  is  what  we  call  a  day.  It's  Earth's  rotation  that  gives  us  night  and  day.  

C. The  Moon  –  Facts  and  Information  1. The  Earth's  one  natural  satellite,  the  Moon,  is  more  than  one  quarter  the  size  of  

Earth  itself  (3,474  km  diameter).  2. While  there  are  only  two  basic  types  of  regions  on  the  Moon's  surface,  there  are  

many  interesting  surface  features  such  as  craters,  mountain  ranges,  rilles,  and  lava  plains.  The  structure  of  the  Moon's  interior  is  more  difficult  to  study.  

3. The  Moon's  top  layer  is  a  rocky  solid,  perhaps  800  km  thick.  4. Beneath  this  layer  is  a  partially  molten  zone.  Although  it  is  not  known  for  certain,  

many  lunar  geologists  believe  the  Moon  may  have  a  small  iron  core,  even  though  the  Moon  has  no  magnetic  field.  

D. The  Phases  of  the  Moon  1. The  revolution  of  the  Moon  around  the  Earth  makes  the  Moon  appear  as  if  it  is  

changing  shape  in  the  sky.    This  is  caused  by  the  different  angles  from  which  we  see  the  bright  part  of  the  Moon's  surface.    These  are  called  "phases"  of  the  Moon.    

2. The  Moon  passes  through  four  major  shapes  during  a  cycle  that  repeats  itself  every  29.5  days.  

3. Below are pictures of the four major shapes and a description of each.

New Moon: The lighted side of the Moon faces away from the Earth. This means that the Sun, Earth, and Moon are almost in a straight line, with the Moon in between the Sun and the Earth. The Moon that we see looks very dark.

First Quarter: The right half of the Moon appears lighted and the left side of the Moon appears dark. During the time between the New Moon and the First Quarter Moon, the part of the Moon that appears lighted gets larger and larger every day, and will continue to grow until the Full Moon.

Full Moon: The lighted side of the Moon faces the Earth. This means that the Earth, Sun, and Moon are nearly in a straight line, with the Earth in the middle. The Moon that we see is very bright from the sunlight reflecting off it.

Last Quarter: Sometimes called Third Quarter. The left half of the Moon appears lighted, and the right side of the Moon appears dark. During the time between the Full Moon and the Last Quarter Moon, the part of the Moon that appears lighted gets smaller and smaller every day. It will continue to shrink until the New Moon, when the cycle starts all over again.

4. There are also four other phases of the Moon sometimes used. They are as follows:

This is known as a Waxing Crescent Moon. This Moon can be seen after the New Moon, but before the First Quarter Moon. The crescent will grow larger and larger every day, until the Moon looks like the First Quarter Moon.

This Moon is known as a Waxing Gibbous Moon. This Moon can be seen after the First Quarter Moon, but before the Full Moon. The amount of the Moon that we can see will grow larger and larger every day. ("Waxing" means increasing, or growing larger.)

This Moon is called a Waning Gibbous Moon. This Moon can be seen after the Full Moon, but before the Last Quarter Moon. The amount of the Moon that we can see will grow smaller and smaller every day. ("Waning" means decreasing, or growing smaller.)

This Moon is called the Waning Crescent Moon. This Moon can be seen after the Last Quarter Moon and before the New Moon. The crescent will grow smaller and smaller every day, until the Moon looks like the New Moon.

 E. Causes  of  the  Moon  Phases  

1. So  here's  where  the  phases  of  the  moon  come  from:  Unless  it  moves  behind  the  Earth,  half  of  the  moon  (that  faces  the  Sun)  is  always  lit  by  the  Sun.  That's  why  the  moon  always  appears  like  a  bright  round  ball  in  the  left  video.  But  look  at  where  your  green  city  viewpoint  is  in  the  left  video;  sort  of  off  to  the  side  of  the  moon.  You  are  not  looking  at  the  moon  directly-­‐-­‐  from  the  side,  you  see  part  of  the  lit  side,  and  part  of  the  dark  side.  How  much  of  each  depends  on  exactly  where  you  are,  and  where  the  Sun,  Moon,  and  Earth  are.  What  the  moon  would  look  like  from  your  green  city  is  shown  in  the  right  video.  

F. Video  on  Earth,  Moon  and  Sun  1. 12  months  2. 28  days  3. 24  hours  4. Earth    

i. What  is  it?  The  Earth  is  a  planet  made  of  rock,  air  and  water.    ii. What  shape  is  it?  Roughly  spherical,  like  a  slightly  squashed  ball.  iii. How  big  is  it?  It  has  a  circumference  of  about  40,000  km  iv. How  fast  does  it  move?  The  Earth  travels  around  the  Sun  once  every  year,  

at  the  speed  of  about  100,000  km  per  hour.  v. Did  you  know?  The  Earth  also  spins  on  its  axis  (an  imaginary  line  through  

its  center)  once  every  24  hours  5. Moon  

i. What  is  it?  A  large  ball  of  rock  that  moves  around  the  Earth  ii. What  shape  is  it?  Roughly  spherical  iii. How  big  is  it?  About  a  quarter  of  the  size  of  the  Earth  iv. How  fast  does  it  move?  The  Moon  travels  around  the  Earth  once  every  28  

days,  at  a  speed  of  over  3,000  km  per  hour  v. Did  you  know?  Sometimes  we  see  the  whole  Moon,  and  sometimes  we  see  

only  part  of  the  Moon,  This  is  because  of  the  way  the  light  from  the  Sun  falls  on  it  

6. Sun  i. What  is  it?  The  Sun  is  a  star,  it  is  very  hot  and  it  gives  us  heat  and  light  ii. What  shape  is  it?  Roughly  spherical  iii. How  big  is  it?  The  Sun  is  more  than  100  times  bigger  than  the  Earth  iv. How  hot  is  it?  15  million  degrees  at  the  center  v. Did  you  know?  Our  Sun  is  just  one  of  about  400  thousand  million  stars  in  

the  galaxy  we  call  the  Milky  Way