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South Carolina ETV
1101 George Rogers Boulevard
Columbia, SC 29201-4761
Phone: 803-737-3545

Clip the Face (Grades 6-8)

Master Teacher

Ida D. Wideman

Time Allotment

Two 45-minute class periods

Overview

People have relied on objects in the sky to govern their existence since the beginning of time. The moon is no exception. It has been used to tell time, as a timetable to plant crops or to have dental work done, to gage different human behaviors, and for other interesting ideas that we would perhaps frown upon or call ridiculous today.

The moon (Luna) is the natural satellite of Earth. Compared to planet Earth, the moon is much smaller, but similarities can be found in their composition. This has been shown through the materials that have been brought back from the moon.

The moon’s period of rotation and period of revolution are the same. Therefore on Earth the same side of the lighted half of the moon is seen all the time. Only portions can be seen throughout the lunar cycle. Sometimes no portion of the moon can be seen. These are known as the phases of the moon.

Using video, the Internet and hands-on activities in this lesson, students will learn to sequence the phases of the moon and determine when lunar and solar eclipses occur.

Subject Matter

Science

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to:

• Infer the sequence of the moon.
• Sequence the phases of the moon from new moon to new moon.
• Describe the difference between a lunar eclipse and a solar eclipse.
• Demonstrate and model the occurrence of lunar and solar eclipses.

South Carolina Standards

(These Standards are available online at http://www.myscschools.com/offices/cso)

Most objects in the solar system are in regular and predictable motion which explains such phenomena as the day, the year, phases of the moon, and eclipses.

b. Sequence and predict the phases of the moon (e.g., waxing, waning, crescent, new, and
full).

c. Demonstrate the arrangement of the sun, the moon, and the Earth during solar and
lunar eclipses (include partial eclipses).

Media Components

Video

Spin Around the Solar System: A Moon Dance
This video investigates ways the moon and Earth affect each other. The phases of the moon and eclipses are shown in two short video segments.

To access the video segments used in this lesson, log on to your account at ETV’s StreamlineSC Web page (http://etv.streamlinesc.org). In the search by keyword box, type Spin Around the Solar System: A Moon Dance and hit go. Click the program title and download the following two video segments to your computer desktop and preview them. “Moon Phases” runs for one minute and 56 seconds and “Eclipses and Conclusion” lasts one minute and 37 seconds.

(Note to Teacher: If you don’t have an account with ETV’s StreamlineSC, check with your media specialist or Instructional Technologist about signing up for your own account.)

Web Sites

The Phaser

http://www.spaceday.org/conmgmt/index.php?option=displaypage&Itemid=156&op=page
&SubMenu= This Web site is an interactive Lunar Odyssey. It allows you to demonstrate all of the phases of the moon.

The Moon’s Phases

http://www.sumanasinc.com/webcontent/anisamples/astronomy/moonphase.html.

This animation shows the Moon at eight positions on its orbit, along with a picture of what the Moon looks like at each position as seen from Earth.

Materials

Per pair of students:

• Styrofoam ball
• Pencil
• Black crayon
• Activity Sheet 1

Learning Activity Materials

• Lamp w/light bulb—no shade
• Masking tape
• Scissors

Per student:

• Blank 8 ½ x 11 paper (cut in half)

Equipment

• Computer

Prep for Teachers

• Prior to this lesson, bookmark all of the Web sites used in the lesson on each computer in the classroom. Load the Shockwave plug-in, available at http://www.macromedia.com, and Windows Media Player, available at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e0175119-9a5b-44c3-b1de-9b2a9aa6cff6&DisplayLang=en, on each computer.

Learning Activity Instructions

• Move all tables or desks away from the center of the classroom. You want to create two areas in which to do this activity. If you have a small class, one area may be sufficient.
  
  Now look at the Learning Activity Set-up Sheet. Put a table in the center of the area. Place a lamp on the table. Be sure the area is large enough that you can mark off six circles as shown on the Set-up Sheet. Using masking tape, mark eight spots in each circle on the floor away from the lamp (approximately 2 meters from the light source). The students will be working in pairs. One student will be the observer, marking the phases of the moon on Activity Sheet 1, and the other student will hold the Styrofoam ball. These same pairs can be used throughout the activity. Tell the students that they will not be moving around the lamp. They will be turning to the left in their designated circles, moving from one piece of tape to the next. Close all doors and pull all shades down.

Model how you would like the students to move in the eight spots on the circle as they draw the phases of the moon on their papers for the Learning Activity.

• When using media, provide students with a Focus for Media Interaction, a specific task to complete and/or information to identify during or after viewing of video segments, Web sites, or other multimedia elements.

Introductory Activity

Step 1: Distribute a piece of blank paper to each student. Tell each student to draw a circle on his/her paper and cut it out.

Step 2: Tell the students that you are from a different planet and you have no idea what the moon is and that you need as much information as possible about this object. Ask them if they know what the moon is. Have you ever seen it? What does it do?

Step 3: Tell the students to draw what the moon looks like to them.

Step 4: Tell students to place a small piece of masking tape on the back of their “moons” and place them on the board.

Step 5: Break the students into pairs. Tell each pair to go to the board and arrange their “moons” in the order of their occurrence. Leave the “moons” on the board. They will be used again later. They are going to draw the moon from memory of what the moon looks like to them. It does not matter at this point what’s in the circle as long as it represents something that they have seen before.

Step 6: Pull up the Web site for The Phaser

http://www.spaceday.org/conmgmt/index.php?option=displaypage&Itemid=156&op
=page&SubMenu. Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to observe the moon as it orbits Earth. Tell them to say aloud to you the name of the phase as you stop on each one. When you see the title The Phaser, a photograph will show a moon on a circle surrounding Earth prompting you to “move me.” Answers will not be available if you depress the mouse and keep it depressed as you move the moon around Earth. Place the moon in orbit around the Earth and hold it there with the mouse. Tell students to predict the phase of the moon when you move the mouse around randomly. (Example: Move the mouse from the new moon phase to the waning gibbous phase. Tell students to predict the phase. It will be the waning gibbous). Call on students one at a time for a response. Repeat this several times or until all of the phases have been used. Show students the entire lunar cycle on this interactive Web site along with the correct responses.

Step 7: While using this site, tell students to predict the phase of the moon today. (Example: Tell them that we experienceda waxing crescent seven days ago. So today wewould beexperiencing a full moon). Allow them to work with their partners in their group to come up with a prediction. Listen to responses from several or all groups. Click on the 2005 Facts Link found in the bar on the left of the page. Scroll until you find “Virtual Reality Moon Phases.” You may want to show them phases of the moon for years past and/or the future.

Learning Activities

Step 1: Distribute a Styrofoam ball, a pencil, crayon, and Activity Sheet 1 to each pair of students.

Step 2: Follow the Learning Activity Instructions under the Prep for Teachers and study the Learning Activity Set-up Sheet. Next arrange each group of students on the masking tape on the floor as described.

Step 3: The two students are standing behind each other. Tell the students to face away from the light source. Tell the student who is farthest from the lamp to hold the ball at arm’s length slightly above his/her head. This will also depend upon the height of the student behind him/her.

Step 4: Darken the room by turning off all lights.

Step 5: Tell the student standing behind the student holding the Styrofoam ball to observe the light on the Styrofoam ball. (This is the student that is directly in front of the lamp with his back to the lamp). In the first circle on Activity Sheet 1, tell him to use a pencil to draw the part of the ball that is lighted and a black crayon to color the part of the ball that does not have light on it.

Step 6: Tell each pair of students to turn left and stand on the second taped spot in their circle on the floor. The person in front should continue to hold the ball in front of him/her.

Step 7: Tell the students to continue turning to the left and observing and drawing shapes until they have completed the eight circles on Activity Sheet 1.

Step 8: Tell the students to switch positions, the person that is drawing will now hold the ball and vice versa, and repeat the process again. After everybody in the circle gets a chance to hold the ball, turn on the lights.

Step 9: Have students return to their desks. Provide them with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to raise their hands and wait for you to call on them. Tell them that they are to identify the phases of the moon as you stop on them.

Pull up the bookmark for The Moon Phases Web site at http://www.sumanasinc.com/webcontent/anisamples/astronomy/moonphase.html. When you see the title of the Web site, click the Stop icon to pause at each phase of the moon. Click Play to restart the moon. Tell the students, one at a time, to identify the phases of the moon. Bypass some of the phases so that they are not in order. Ask the students, “What phase is this?” (Example:This is the full moon phase. It will be the one that is completelylighted.) At the end of the questioning, you may wish to set the moon on PLAY without stopping it so that the students may see the phases in order.

Step 10: Tell the students in each group to label each phase of the moon on his/her Activity Sheet 1.

Step 11: Tell the students that they are going to revisit the “moons” on the board. Tell the students to look at all of the “moons” very carefully. Tell them to work as a group and decide the sequence of them. After approximately five minutes, tell several groups of students to return to the board and rearrange their “moons” in the order that they occur.

Step 12: Tell the students that a lunar eclipse and a solar eclipse occur on different phases of the moon. Ask them what is the difference between these eclipses and when do they occur? (A lunar eclipse occurs when Earth is between the sun andmoon—full moon.) (A solar eclipse occurs when the moon is between Earth and the sun—new moon phase.) Tell students to work with their partners and discuss the difference between a lunar eclipse and a solar eclipse. Allow three to four minutes for this activity.

Step 13: Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them towatchfor the arrangement of the sun, moon and Earth for a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse. Tell them to be able to tell you the difference between a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse at the end of the video. Pull up “Eclipses and Conclusion” from your computer desktop and PLAY.

Step 14: Tell the students to look at their drawings and decide where the solar eclipse and the lunar eclipse should be labeled on Activity Sheet 1. Ask students to identify the phases for each eclipse. (Answers can be found in Step 12.)

Culminating Activity

Step 1: Tell your students that they will now get the opportunity to see all of the phases of the moon in order. Provide your students with a Focus for Media Interaction, asking them to observe the sequence of all of the phases of the moon in order. PLAYthe video “Moon Phases” from your computer desktop. When you see the photograph of the moon, MUTE the sound and tell students to observe and read all captions on the screen. You will see a black scene at the end. Tell the students to write the sequence of the phases of the moon in order in their notebooks.

Step 2: Distribute Activity Sheet 2. Tell students that they are to complete this activity with their partners and turn it in before leaving class.

Cross-Curricular Extensions

Art: Students can draw or paint a picture of their neighborhood during the full moon phase on a night when it is not cloudy.

Language Arts: Students can research holiday dates that are set on our calendar using the moon as a reference.

Social Studies: Students can research information on the harvest moon, when it occurs and its importance.

Have students create a map of the moon. List and label some of the major features of the moon. Include craters and some other interesting features.

Health: Invite a psychologist to discuss his/her findings on the relationship of human behavior and the phases of the moon.

Computer Technology: Recent newspaper articles indicate that individuals are willing to spend $200,000 or more of their money to visit the moon or another body in space. Create and design a brochure for future “moon landings.” Include preparations, mode of transportation, price, places to visit, communication systems, departure, arrival, food supply, sleeping accommodations and other preparations that would be needed to survive in a different environment.

Community Connections

• Have a farmer (preferably an elderly one) visit the classroom and comment on how farmers used the moon to aid them in their work on the farm.

• Have a professor from the Astronomy Department of your closest university (e.g., University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC) visit the classroom and discuss the moon.

Student Materials

• Styrofoam balls
• Black crayons
• Pencils
• Paper
• Activity Sheet 1
• Activity Sheet 2
• Activity Sheet 2 Answers