Sun, Earth, and Moon



Sun, Earth, and Moon

Earth’s Moon…It’s Just a Phase!

Name _______________________________________

It’s Just a Phase

Even though it’s some 239,000 miles away, the Moon is the Earth’s closest neighbor in space. The Moon has always been a source of mystery. In ancient times, people thought it had the powers of a god. Astronomers eventually proved that the brightest object in our nighttime sky was really just a rock satellite. But even then, scientists were not sure what they’d find there. Many fantasized that some new form of life would be discovered. In the 20th century, exploration of the Moon helped replace myth and fantasy with hard facts.

On July 20, 1969, U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong fulfilled an age-old dream by walking on the Moon. As he made the first footprint on the lunar surface, he said: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Yet the Moon still puzzles scientists and intrigues people everywhere.

[pic]

Apollo 11 space mission July 21, 1969



It’s been said that a Full Moon causes mayhem and madness. Crime is supposed to rise, dogs are supposed to bite more, and people are believed to act a little crazy. The word lunatic literally means “moonstruck.” It comes from the Latin word for moon. However, scientists have no evidence that the Moon affects behavior.

We know that gravity keeps the moon in orbit around the Earth, and even though its force is much less. The moon does affect our planet by exerting its gravitational pull on the Earth’s oceans. If you spend time at the ocean, you will see that the water level rises and falls about every 12 hours. This is known as the tides. Tides are due mainly to the gravitational pull between Earth and the Moon. A high tide occurs on the side of Earth facing the Moon. When this part of Earth turns away from the Moon, we have low tide.



Click on chapter 5 “The Origins of Tides”

There are many theories about the birth of the Moon. Most scientists believe that 4.5 billion years ago, a small planetary body smacked into Earth. At the time, our planet was still young, just 100 million years old! The collision threw pieces of debris into orbit, which then joined together and became the Moon. Both Earth and the Moon spent the next 700 million years under siege from giant meteorites. Earth’s scars from that time have mostly healed, thanks to weather, erosion, and plant life. But the Moon still bears huge pockmarks, which we call craters.

A typical weather report from the Moon would be brief. There is no weather on the Moon, no clouds and little or no atmosphere (the gases that surround a planet). The sky is always black and starry, and there is only a whisper of wind, caused by the Sun. That is why craters created billions of years ago remain practically unchanged.

The moon does not produce its own light. Instead, it reflects light from the Sun. If you shine a light on a ball, (sphere) ½ of the ball will be illuminated by the light. Remember, it takes the Earth 24 hours to rotate once; the time the Moon takes to turn on its axis is about 27 days! And the time it takes the moon to orbit the Earth is also about 27 days. Thus, the Moon is in a synchronous rotation with Earth, so one side of the moon, called the near side, always faces Earth. The part of the moon we can’t see is called the far side.

We see only the part of the Moon that is lit by the Sun. The Moon appears to change shape each day; these changing shapes are called phases. The shape of the part of the Moon that reflects light to Earth depends on two things. One is the Moon’s position in its orbit around Earth. The other is the position of the Sun. It takes approximately one month for the Moon to complete all of its phases.

In every phase of the Moon, the lit part faces the Sun. You can tell where it is by how it lights the Moon. During a Full Moon, the Sun is behind you, the Sun is shining directly on the Moon. At all other times, Earth is in the way, so only part of the Moon can be seen. The Moon waxes (grows) while going from New Moon (dark) to Full Moon. It wanes (decreases) when going from a Full Moon to a New Moon. A New Moon is the phase of the Moon in which it is nearly or totally invisible from Earth. When the Moon is between Earth and the Sun, the light from the Sun falls on the far side of the Moon. The side that faces Earth is dark, so we can’t see the Moon.



About how long does it take the Moon to complete all of its phases? ________________________________

Space Science for Children

All About the Moon video

1. The _____________________ is the Earth’s closest neighbor in space; it is Earth’s natural satellite.

2. One year on Earth is equal to one ______________________________________ around the Sun.

3. A large body of solid rock, liquid or gas that revolves around the Sun. ___________________

4. The continuous path of an object around another body; the Moon _______________ the Earth, as the Earth

and the other planets ________________ the Sun.

5. The repeating pattern of “changing shapes” of the Moon, which is caused by the amount of the Moon’s surface illuminated by the Sun at different times during a 28 day cycle. __________________

6. The phase of the Moon when we are unable to see it because the Sun is shining on its “far side” __________

7. The phase of the Moon when one-half of the surface facing Earth is illuminated. _________________

8. The phase of the Moon when the entire side facing Earth is illuminated. _____________________

9. How much of the moon is illuminated by the Sun during each phase? _____________________

10. The layer of gases that surrounds a planet: ____________________________________

11. The most important effect of the Moon’s gravitational pull on Earth is the daily rise and fall of the ocean water called ________________________________

12. One day on Earth is equal to one ______________________________________ of the Earth.

Earth, Moon and Sun

Light, Shadows and Illumination: Lighting up a Sphere

Shine a flashlight from position A to the sphere in the center. Draw what the center sphere looks like when you are standing at position A, B, C, and D.

A: B: C: D:

C

D B

A

Sphere Illumination Idea: When a sphere is lit up by one light, one-half of the sphere is always lit up. The other half is not lit up. Depending on where you look at the sphere, you see different amounts of the lit up part. This makes it look like different shapes, from crescent to a full circle.





Illumination: Set three spheres on your table. Turn on the flashlight so that the light shines on the spheres. Squat down and move behind each sphere and observe what you see. Look at the spheres from above and tell what you see. Shade in the spheres to show what do you see?

How much of the ball is lit from every position? _________________

Does light bend around objects? ___________________

Earth & Moon

Our Solar System

• The Sun and the planets that revolve around it are the major bodies in the solar system. Other celestial members include comets, moons, and asteroids.

• Earth’s orbit is nearly circular.

• Other stars are like the Sun, but they are so far away that they look like points of light.

• Distances between stars are vast compared to distances within our solar system.

1. Using a scale. Our classroom globe has a diameter of about 15 inches. On the classroom globe 1 inch represents ___________________ miles.

2. Earth’s diameter is about _____________________ miles.

3. Earth’s circumference is about _____________________ miles.

(circumference = ( ( diameter)

4. If you could walk on the equator all the way around the Earth, you would walk about ___________________ miles.

5. Comparing the sizes of the Earth and Moon

a. 1 inch represents ____________ miles

b. If 1” represents 1,000 miles, then we need ________ inches to represent 8,000 miles. So the scale model of the Earth would be a sphere with an 8-inch diameter.

c. The Moon’s diameter is about 2,000 miles.

i. ________ inches represents 2,000 miles.

ii. A sphere with a ______ inch diameter will represent the Moon.

• The Earth is four times bigger than the Moon.

• The Moon is four times smaller than the Earth.

• Comparing the size of the Moon to the Earth.

a. 2 to 8 or 1 to 4 or ¼ or 1:4

6. How far away is the Moon from the Earth?

a. Using the picture card of the Earth and the Moon, 1mm represents 1,000 miles.

b. How many millimeters is the Moon from the Earth? _______________ mm

c. Therefore, the Moon is ____________ miles from the Earth.

d. Using the scale of 1” = 1,000 miles.

i. How many inches is the Moon from the Earth? _______________ inches

ii. 240 inches represents ___________________ miles

iii. 240 inches = ___________________ feet (The Moon is twenty feet away from the Earth using the 1” represents 1,000 miles scale).

Earth’s Moon

(Homework for an adult living in your galaxy)

1. Cut out the two circles and label Earth and Moon.

2. Share with an adult how these circles represent the Earth and Moon if 1 inch represents 1,000 miles.

3. Have the adult predict how far away the Earth and Moon are from each other by placing the circles in different positions.

4. Tell the adult that the actual distance from the Earth to the Moon is 240,000 miles.

a. 240,000 miles is represented by 240 inches

b. 240 inches ( 12 inches = 20 feet

Scale: 1 inch represents 1,000 miles

Diameter of Earth Diameter of Moon Earth-Moon Distance

Actual Size or 8,000 miles 2,000 miles 240,000 miles

Distance 8 inches 2 inches 240 inches = 20 feet

Think about it…

The Sun’s diameter is 870,000 miles. Using the scale 1-inch represents 1,000 miles; a model of the Sun would be 870 inches or about 72 feet!

The Sun is about 90,000,000 miles from the Earth. The Sun is 90,000 1,000 miles away from Earth. 90,000 inches represents 90,000,000 miles.

90,000 inches = 7,500 feet from the Earth! (1 mile = 5,280 feet)

Parent Signature ____________________________________________

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