Moon Phases. Objective:

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1 Moon Phases Purpose: This lesson will teach students that the phases of the moon appear in sequence as the moon makes one revolution around Earth. This lesson helps students understand the patterns in nature, natural cycles, and changes that occur both quickly and slowly over time. SOL: Science 3.1 The student will demonstrate an understanding of scientific reasoning, logic, and the nature of science by planning and conducting investigations in which a) observations are made and are repeated to ensure accuracy; b) predictions are formulated using a variety of sources of information; c) objects with similar characteristics or properties are classified into at least two sets and two subsets; d) natural events are sequenced chronologically; e) length, volume, mass, and temperature are estimated and measured in metric and standard English units using proper tools and techniques; f) time is measured to the nearest minute using proper tools and techniques; g) questions are developed to formulate hypotheses; h) data are gathered, charted, graphed, and analyzed; i) unexpected or unusual quantitative data are recognized; j) inferences are made and conclusions are drawn; k) data are communicated; l) models are designed and built; and m) current applications are used to reinforce science concepts. Science 3.8 The student will investigate and understand basic patterns and cycles occurring in nature. Key concepts include a) patterns of natural events such as day and night, seasonal changes, simple phases of the moon, and tides; b) animal life cycles; and c) plant life cycles. Objective: Given pictures of the four phases of the moon, the student will be able to identify the four phases (new, first quarter, full, third quarter), identify the position of the phases in relation to the sun and Earth, and explain why the phases occur receiving 16 out of 20 points on the evaluation. Procedures: Introduction ENGAGEMENT Explain to the students that they will be exploring the moon. Ask the students to think about the moon. (Auditory) o Does the moon always look the same every night? o What are some of the different shapes you have seen the moon take? o Can you see the moon every night? o Why do you think that the moon changes shape every night or that some nights there is no moon at all?

2 Watch the video Flocabulary - Moon Phases located at (Auditory, Visual) Explain to the students that there are many phases of the moon, but in class today, we are going to be learning about the following phases: new, first quarter, full, third quarter. (Auditory) Development EXPLORATION Explain to the students that we are going to explore the phases of the moon using Oreo cookies. Pass out to each student 4 Oreo cookies, a paper plate, plastic spoon, and the Phases of the Moon Handout. Have the student draw and color a small Earth in the center of the paper plate. On left edge of the paper plate have the students color the edge yellow to represent the sun. (Kinesthetic) Explain to the students that the Oreo cookies are going to represent the phases of the moon. The students will create the four phases of the moon (new, first quarter, full, third quarter) using the cookies. The students will twist the tops off the cookies and create each phase of the moon. The frosting on the cookie represents the light of the reflecting sun. The new moon is a cookie with all frosting removed. The first quarter is a cookie with the left side of the frosting removed. For the full moon, no frosting is removed. The third quarter is a cookie with the right side of the frosting removed. (Kinesthetic) The students will use the Phases of the Moon Handout to help them replicate the phases of the moon with their cookies. (Visual) Once the students have created all four phases of the moon with their cookies, challenge the students to place them on the correct spot around their Earth on the paper plate. EXPLANATION Explain to the students that they will now learn why the moon looks different in the sky every night. Ask for 2 volunteers. Have one student hold a flashlight to represent the sun. Have the second student hold the sphere on a stick to represent the moon. Explain to the students that the moon is going to rotate around the Earth and the student holding the moon represents the Earth. The student holding the moon will stand in front of the flashlight and rotate their body counter clockwise 90 degrees. This is the first quarter moon. Have the students observe what part of the moon is lit by the sun. (Visual, Auditory) o Why is only that part lit? Have the student holding the moon rotate another 90 degrees. This is the full moon. Have the students observe what part of the moon is lit. (Visual, Auditory) o Why do you think that the entire moon is lit?

3 Have the student holding the moon rotate another 90 degrees. This is the third quarter moon. Have the students observe what part of the moon is lit. (Visual, Auditory) o Why is only that part lit? Have the student holding the moon rotate another 90 degrees. This is the new moon. Have the students observe what part of the moon is lit. (Visual, Auditory) o Why is there not part of the moon lit? Discuss with the students. (Auditory) o Does the moon make its own light? o How is the moon lit? o Why does the moon change its shape? o Explain why there is a full moon. o Explain why that when there is a new moon, we cannot see it. Have the students check their cookie models for correctness. If they have not placed the moon phase in the correct position, have them correct it. ELABORATION Pass out the Moon Phase Worksheet. Have the students work with a partner to complete the worksheet. The student will match the picture to the correct phase as well as draw the phases of the moon in the correct position and label the picture. (Visual) Summary As a class discuss. (Auditory) o Does the moon produce its own light? o How is the sun lit? o What are the phases of the moon? o Why do we not see a moon on a new moon? o During a full moon, why is the entire moon lit? o Why does the moon go through phases? EVALUATION Pass out a blank sheet of paper. Have the students create a diagram of the moon phases and their relation to the earth and sun. The student will draw the sun and Earth. The students will cut out the phases of the moon from the Phases of the Moon Worksheet they received at the beginning of the lesson and paste them in their positions around the Earth. The students will label their diagram. On the back of the diagram the students will provide the an answer to the following question Identify the four phases of the moon and explain in your own words why the moon go through phases. Safety Precautions Because the activity involves food, check the class for food allergies. Be sure the student holding the flashlight does not shine the light into anyone s eyes.

4 For Strugglers Allow the student to be the volunteer that holds the moon during the explanation. The student can also use their cookie model and worksheet to assist them on the evaluation. For Advanced The student will provide an explanation for why each phase of the moon is lit the way it is. Materials: 4 Oreo cookies per student Paper plates Plastic spoons Crayons Phases of the Moon Handout Phases of the Moon Worksheet Flashlight Sphere on a stick Scissors Blank Paper Evaluation Part A: The student will create a diagram of the phases of the moon as in relation to the sun and Earth. The diagram will be labeled to identify the phase of the moon. The students will identify the four phases of the moon and explain why the moon goes through the phases. The students will be evaluated using the attached rubric. Evaluation Part B: Did the students meet your objectives? How do you know? Did your lesson accommodate/address the needs of all your learners? What were the strengths of the lesson? What were the weaknesses? How would you change the lesson if you could teach it again? At the end of my lesson, it was apparent that most of the students had met my objective. After the students had turned in their Evaluation work, I was able to gage that the majority of the students had correctly positioned, labeled, and explained the phases of the moon. There were, however, a few students who did not accurately explain why the moon goes through phases or label their diagrams. Every student did place the moon phases in the correct position relative to the Earth and the sun. Although all correctly placed the moon in the correct positions, there was plenty of scaffolding. I am not confident that they would have been able to do it without my help. I felt as if my lesson did in fact address needs of all my learners. For those that did struggle I allowed those students to hold the moon and rotate so they could visually see how the sun reflects off of the moon. While the completing the Elaboration portion of the lesson, I moved around the room further explaining the phases of the moon at their different positions. I seemed to guide the students during this entire activity. I am confident that the students understood the phases of the moon, but I am not they could have done it without my help.

5 My lesson had plenty of strengths. The biggest among the strengths has to have been the use of the Oreo cookies to display the phases of the moon. The students loved this! It gave them the opportunity to be hands on and it allowed them to think about where to place the phases of the moon before a full explanation was given. To my surprise a few students had correctly placed the Oreos in the correct position without an explanation. Another strength of the lesson was when we used the flashlight and sphere on a stick to simulate the rotation of the moon around the Earth and how the light reflects off the moon. The students were able to see directly how the light hits the moon and why we see what we see when we look up at the night sky at night. Along with my strengths, my lesson also had weaknesses. The first being the initial complications we had with the cookies. I did not take into account just how ungentle third graders can be which led to plenty of broken cookies. I did demonstrate how to open the cookies and use the plastic spoon to scrape the icing off of the cookies, but little hands are not as steady and as gentle as mine. Luckily I brought in an entire package of extra Oreo cookies in case of any mishaps, and plenty of mishaps were had. For the next time I will have to do a better job at explaining how to carefully twist open the cookies and if they do break show them how to salvage the ones that can still be used, broken or not. Another weakness of my lesson was the Moon Phase Handout the students received at the beginning of the lesson. I should have produced the handout in landscape layout as opposed to portrait. I believed having the moon phases laid out differently on their handout may have confused them. If I could teach this lesson again, I would make the few changes to the cookies and the layout of the handout. Also, I think I would let more people hold the moon during the flashlight portion of the lesson so more students could visually see how the moon was lit by the sun. I do not think that those students who did not get the opportunity to hold the moon felt the full effect of the lesson. The phases of the moon is a very difficult concept to teach. I believe in order for students to fully understand the concept, it requires more than one lesson. An extension that could be added to the lesson to provide more explanation is for each student to receive a moon log and monitor the moon every night for thirty days to see how the moon changes every night. This may give the students more understanding as to how the moon goes through its phases. I would also have to do more research as to how to get students to fully understand what phase goes in which position around the Earth.