Moon Phases. Grade 3. Subjects: Science, Math, ELA. Overview. Time:

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1 Astrnmy Grade 3 Mn Phases Subjects: Science, Math, ELA Overview Students develp an understanding f the mn phases thrugh hme bservatins and class activities as they create a mn phases chart by tracing vanilla wafer ckies that have been nibbled t represent the apparent mn shapes they have bserved in the sky. Standards/Benchmarks * Cnduct shrt research prjects that build knwledge based n fcused questins. ELA ( ) Recall infrmatin frm experiences r gather infrmatin frm print/digital surces and srt evidence int prvided categries. ELA ( ) Use time t slve real-wrld prblems. Determine elapsed time. Math ( ) Cllect, rganize, display and interpret data. Use labels in displays. Math ( ) Scientists wrk as individuals and in grups, emphasizing evidence, cmmunicatin and skepticism. Science ( ) Generate questins that can be answered by cmbining scientific knwledge with ne's wn bservatins. Science ( ) Scientific inquiry is a set f interrelated prcesses with multiple appraches used t pse questins abut the natural wrld and investigate phenmena. Science ( ) The sun and mn have lcatins and mvements that can be bserved and described. Science ( ) Objects in the slar system as seen frm Earth have varius sizes and distinctive patterns f mtin. Science ( ) Backgrund Mn Phases We see the mn because it is reflecting sunlight smewhat like a mirrr. As the Earth rbits arund the sun, the mn is rbiting arund the Earth. It takes the mn abut 4 weeks (a mnth) t rbit Earth and during this trip the mn reflects varying amunts f light. As the mn rbits Earth it is smetimes between the Earth and the Sun. The mn is nt reflecting any light tward the Earth and the bright sunlight bscures ur view f the mn. This phase is called the new mn. On the Minnesta Weatherguide Envirnment Calendar the new mn is shwn as a dark circle. Each night as the mn mves a little farther in its rbit, we can see a small sliver f mn reflecting sunlight. This is called a crescent mn. As the mn cntinues alng its rbit mre and mre f the mn is reflecting sunlight (waxing). Smetimes we may even see it during the Time: Day 1: 30 minutes Day 2: 45 minutes Day 3: 30 minutes Skills: Observing Recrding Data cllecting Frecasting Vcabulary: crescent mn first quarter mn full mn gibbus mn lunar cycle new mn waning crescent waning gibbus waxing crescent waxing gibbus Materials Needed: Minnesta Weatherguide Envirnment Calendar LCD Prjectr Blank & calendar paper Pencils Vanilla Wafers (1 bx/5 students) Chart paper Markers The Mn Bk by Gail Gibbns Mn Phases Calendar Blackline Masters

2 day. Abut a week after new mn, we can see what lks like a half-mn it is a quarter f the way arund the Earth s it is als called the first quarter mn. Each night mre f the mn's surface reflects sunlight s it lks like it is increasing in size. Nw the mn is abut 2 weeks int its rbit and it is n the side f the Earth where the sun can light all f the mn surface that we can see. This is called the full mn. As the mn cntinues t rbit, it appears smaller and smaller (waning) until it is again dark a new new mn. And the cycle repeats. The Activity Day 1 Warm Up (If pssible, d this activity a week befre the full mn. Yu will have time t send hme a letter t parents, explaining the unit f study and requesting that they help their children bserve the upcming full mn and make bservatins thrughut the next lunar mnth.) 1. Tday is exciting because students will becme astrnmers scientists wh study the universe beynd the Earth! Yu will be studying the mn that rbits ur Earth. 2. Use a chart t recrd what students knw (r think they knw) abut the mn. 3. Read The Mn Bk by Gail Gibbns. After reading, discuss what students learned and add t r mdify the list n yur chart. 4. Shw the class the Minnesta Weatherguide Envirnment Calendar and the current mnth page. Explain t the students that they will be starting t track the mn and its phases ver the next mnth. Shw and discuss the sketches f the mn thrughut the mnth. Take time t als have students cunt the days in a lunar cycle. 5. Have students take hme a letter t parents requesting family invlvement as the students spend sme time at hme bserving the night-time mn. A draft letter is included in this lessn r better yet have the class wrk tgether t draft a persuasive letter fr parents.

3 Day 2 Learn and Create Mn Phase Sketches 1. Review the mn chart created earlier with the students. 2. Take ut the Minnesta Weatherguide Envirnment Calendar and pint ut the shaded mn pictures in the date bxes. 3. Intrduce and teach each mn phase name and definitin. Keep these n a chart (use all vcabulary frm key wrds sectin). 4. Shw students n an LCD prjectr these mn clips t help them get a better understanding f why we nly see parts f the mn. Yu culd als shw pictures f the mn phases r ther bks with the mn phases (see bibligraphy). er_n=25 5. Students nw get a chance t draw the mn phases by tracing ckies. Each student will be shwing the mn phases by eating the shaded parts f the mn, which is a vanilla wafer. 6. Pass ut ne blank piece f paper t each student. Have the students fld the paper int eights. Begin by flding the paper in half. Cntinue flding in halves until there are eight equal squares. Students may als want t trace the flded lines with their pencil as t create mre slid bxes n their page. 7. Give a bx f Vanilla Wafers t each grup/table f students. They are t remve nly ne ckie at a time. Mdel this prcess with them s they knw exactly what t d fr each phase. 8. Tell them t take ut ne f the ckies, trace this whle ckie in bx #1. This represents the Full Mn. Have students recrd the name f the mn phase in the bx. This ckie may nt be eaten yet. 9. Mdel hw t carefully nibble ff the right edge f the mn ckie t prduce a Waning Gibbus Mn. Trace this ckie shape in bx #2. Recrd the mn phase name in the bx. (Waning means that the mn appears t be getting smaller in size. Obviusly, the size remains the same, but less f the mn surface is being illuminated.) 10. Cntinue t mdel biting the ckie befre letting students d it. Nw they shuld nibble until they have nly a half f a ckie left t trace. This is called the Last Quarter Mn. Trace the ckie shape int bx #3 and label the drawing. 11. Nibble the half ckie until it is shaped like a letter C. Trace the ckie shape int bx #4. This is a Waning Crescent Mn. Yu may nw eat the remainder f this ckie. 12. Take ut a new ckie. Trace it just like it is in bx #5. Shade the entire circle in. This is called a New Mn. It is the dark f the mn because the mn is between the Earth and the sun and we cannt see any f the lighted half f the mn. Because the mn is cmpletely shadwed they may eat the entire ckie. Label the mn phase. 13. Take a new ckie frm the bx. Nibble alng the left side f the ckie until yu have a thin crescent shaped like a backwards C. Trace the shape int bx #6. Label this the Waxing Crescent Mn. When yu have finished tracing, yu may eat the remainder f the ckie. (Waxing means it appears t be increasing in size.) 14. Take a new ckie frm the bx and bite it in half. Trace the right half int bx #7 and label it First Quarter Mn. 15. Take anther ckie frm the bx and carefully nibble ff a small abut frm the left side f the ckie and trace the shape in bx #8. Label this shape the Waxing Gibbus Mn. 16. Duble check t make sure that all students have labeled each f the bxes with the prper names as well as drawn in the prper mn shape. 17. Ask: What will the mn lk like in the next phase? (It will be a Full Mn again.) 18. Bring students tgether at the end f the activity t review the changes in the mn phases. 19. Hang the student charts up in the classrm s that students can visibly see them fr at least a week. At the end f the week, send the charts hme with a nte infrming families f what their students have been learning.

4 Day 3 Mn Calendars 1. Intrduce blank calendars t the students and explain that they are ging t track the mn phases fr ne mnth and cmpare their findings t the Minnesta Weatherguide Envirnment Calendar. 2. Pint ut t students that the mn des nt rise and set at the same time each day. Tell students that they can find the rise time f the mn n the Minnesta Weatherguide Envirnment Calendar, in the lcal newspaper r n the internet. Have them lk fr times when the mn is visible during the day. It is easy t make their mn sketch n thse days. 3. Explain that this is a mnth lng hmewrk assignment. Students are t take the calendars hme and bserve the mn each night (r day). Distribute the Mn Phases Calendar sheets and help students fill in the dates f the lunar cycle yu will be bserving as yu mdel n the verhead r LCD. Fr example if tday is Tuesday, March 15th, find the first Tuesday n the sheet and write in a 15 then cntinue and number the dates fr the rest f the calendar. Remind students t write their names at the tp. Nw fr each date, list the time during the day r night that the mn rises and sets. Students will have t make their bservatins sme time during that perid. The last day n the calendar is the day that these hmewrk calendars are due back t schl. 4. Mdel hw t make an bservatin. Shw students that they are t draw what the mn lks like in each date bx. Mdel an example f an bservatin. Recrd the time, draw a sketch f the mn, shading it, and label it with the crrect mn phase. 5. Send the Mn Phases Calendar sheets hme with the Mn Phases Letter t Parents s that parents are infrmed f the assignment and can help their student at hme. (T add a persuasive writing cmpnent t this lessn, have students write the letter that ges hme t parents.) 6. Thrughut the mnth discuss with students hw their bservatins are cming and what they are finding. 7. When the mnth f recrding and bserving is ver the students will bring their calendars back t schl. Students can then cmpare their findings with ther students' and als with the Minnesta Weatherguide Envirnment Calendar. Questins fr Discussin Des the mn change r stay the same? The mn appears t change in shape as it revlves arund the earth. The changes seen in the mn are called mn phases. Is there a pattern t the way the mn seems t change? The mn has a cntinuus cycle f change frm the new mn phase, it appears bigger and bigger each day because mre and mre f the mn's surface is illuminated by the sun until it is a full mn. Then the mn appears smaller each day because less and less f the surface is illuminated until it is a new mn again. Hw lng des it take the mn t g frm ne new mn t anther new mn? The lunar cycle is abut ne mnth r a little mre than fur weeks (29.5 days). Our wrd mnth came frm the wrd mn. Extensins Teach abut each mnth's full mn. Explain hw a full mn appears as an entire circle in the sky. In Native American and flk cultures the full mn has different names, depending n the time f year and the phenlgical happenings. The names n the Minnesta Weatherguide Envirnment Calendar are Ojibwe names fr the entire mnth. Other cmmn names fr mnthly mns are as fllws: January- Mn After Yule, Wlf Mn, r Old Mn February- Snw Mn r Hunger Mn March- Sap Mn, Crw Mn, r Lenten Mn April- Grass Mn r Egg Mn May- Milk Mn r Planting Mn June- Rse Mn, Flwer Mn, r Strawberry Mn July- Thunder Mn r Hay Mn August- Grain Mn r Green Crn Mn

5 September- Fruit Mn r Harvest Mn Octber- Harvest Mn r Hunter's Mn Nvember- Hunter's Mn, Frsty Mn, r Beaver Mn December- Mn Befre Yule r Lng Night Mn Resurces Branley, F.M. Mn Seems t Change. Brenner, M. Abe Lincln's Hat (Lincln wn a law case because he knew mn phases!) Fwler, A. S That's Hw the Mn Changes Shape! Gibbns, G. The Mn Bk. Olsn, G. M. Phases f the Mn. Twist, C. The Mn. Wd, Dug Rabbit and the Mn Minnesta Weatherguide Envirnment Calendar * Minnesta State Academic Standards Standards Met Subject Cde Standard Benchmark Cnduct shrt research prjects that build ELA Math Science knwledge abut a tpic Recall infrmatin frm experiences r gather infrmatin frm print and digital surces; take brief ntes n surces and srt evidence int prvided categries Use time, mney and temperature t slve real wrld and mathematical prblems Cllect, rganize, display, and interpret data. Use labels and a variety f scales and units in displays Scientists wrk as individuals and in grups, emphasizing evidence, pen cmmunicatin and skepticism Scientific inquiry is a set f interrelated prcesses incrprating multiple appraches that are used t pse questins abut the natural wrld and investigate phenmena. Tell time t the minute, using digital and analg clcks. Determine elapsed time t the minute Fr example: Yur trip began at 9:50 a.m. and ended at 3:10 p.m. Hw lng were yu traveling? Cllect, display and interpret data using frequency tables, bar graphs, picture graphs and number line plts having a variety f scales. Use apprpriate titles, labels and units. Prvide evidence t supprt claims ther than saying Everyne knws that, r I just knw, and questin such reasns when given by thers. Generate questins that can be answered when scientific knwledge is cmbined with knwledge gained frm ne's wn bservatins r investigatins. Fr example: Investigate the sunds prduced by striking varius bjects Maintain a recrd f bservatins, prcedures and explanatins, being careful t distinguish between actual bservatins and ideas abut what was bserved. Fr example: Make a chart cmparing bservatins abut the structures f plants and animals The sun and mn have lcatins and mvements that can be bserved and described. Observe and describe the daily and seasnal changes in the psitin f the sun and cmpare bservatins. Created by Melanie Andersn, Leah Bulver, Lisa Kalina, ISD #719 Revised by Lindsay Cmstck, ISD #719