The Moon Phases Lab

Guiding Question: What are the phases of the moon?  Why do they occur?

Procedure:
For the model, place the flashlight about one meter from Earth.
Place the moon between Earth and the sun.
Observe the moon as if you were standing on Earth.
Sketch the appearance of the moon in your notebook from four point positions.
Move the moon 1/4 of the way around Earth in a counterclockwise direction.
Sketch your observations.  Do the same with the moon 1/2 of the way around and 3/4 of the way around Earth.
Place the moon again between Earth and the sun.
Observe Earth and the moon from "space" (a position directly above Earth).
Record your observations of the moon.  Move the moon 1/4 of the way around Earth in a counterclockwise direction. Record your observations of the moon around the Earth. Do the same for 1/2 of the way around Earth and 3/4 of the way around Earth.

1.When investigating the simulation, the moon clock, and/or the model, what did you notice about the phases of the moon?  Why do we see different parts of the moon each night?

Well, the first and most imporant thing, in my opinion, that I learnt was why moon phases happen, and why do we see a certain part of the moon over a course of one lunar month. When we were doing the model, you could see that moonlight was actually reflected sunlight. Moon doesn't produce light on it's own, because it is not a star, and it does not have any energy or fuel to create it's light. One lunar month lasts for about 29.9 days, and that is how much it takes for the moon to revolve around the Earth. Now, there are different moon phases, because we see different parts of the moon lit up, as it orbits around our planet. After observing moon phases for a long time, people have came to a conclusion that the same moon phases occur every month. They are:

The New Moon: The New Moon is when no sunlight is hitting the moon, and therefore the moon appears to be hardly visible. New Moon rises at around 6 AM, it's time at the meridian is noon, and it sets at 6 PM.

The Waxing Crescent: The Waing Crescent only shows a small part of the moon lit up. This moon phase rises at 9 AM, the time at the meridian is 3 PM, and the time when it sets is 9 PM.

The 1st quarter: The 1st quarter raises at noon, and it's time at the meridian is 6PM. It sets at midnight. The 1st quarter is half-lit.

The Waxing Gibbous: The Waxing Gibbous shows that three quarters of the moon are lit. This moon phase rises at 3 PM, the time at the meridian is 9 PM, and it sets at around 3 AM.

Full Moon: The Full Moon shows the whole moon lit up by the sun's light. The full moon rises ar around 6 PM, the time at the meridian is midnight, and it sets at 6 AM.

The Waning Gibbous: The waning gibbous rises at 9 PM, the time at the meridian is 3 Am, and it sets at around 9 AM. The Waning Gibbous shows a moon that is three-quarters lit.

3rd Quarter: The 3rd Quarter shows half of the moon lit by the sun's light. This phase rises at midnight, the time at the meridian is 6 AM, and the time it sets is noon.

Waning Crescent: The Waning Crescent shows a quarter of the moon lit up. THe time it rises it 3 AM, time at the meridian is 9 AM, and the time it sets is 3 PM.

Each night, we see different phases, because the moon is orbiting around the Earth, the Earth is orbiting around its axis, and the sun. Because we are standing on the Earth, we see different parts of the moon lit up, because the moon orbits our planet. However, we have to understand that the same part of the moon is always lit up, and, usually, so is the same amount of area. However, WE see different parts of the moon lit up, because of our point of view, the Earth. The moon phases depend on the position of the moon related to the sun, and to the Earth.Now, you may wonder how the moon reflects sunlight. Well, from the many experiments and research scientists have done since astronauts visited the moon, it has been proven that rocks on the moon are similar to those on Earth, which are very good reflectors of light. Since the moon is made up entirely of those rocks, it can easily reflect light, despite the sun being very far away.






How well did making a model help you understand the phases of the moon? What are some disadvantages of using models?

My model halped me a lot with understanding the phases of the moon, because it gave me the opportunity to see everything visually, and to picture in my mind how it all looks in space. It is much easier to understand certain things once you can actally see how they work, and most importantly why they happen, and what causes them to be a certain way. However, models are not always the best tool, because there is a lot of room for error. Firstly, they might not be to scale. If the moon and the Earth were not to scale, then the phases would not show properly, or it might give you the wrong ideas that during some phases the moon is more or less lit up then it actually would be. Also, when using this specific model, you could make a mistake when making the moon orbit around the Earth. The error could be that you didn't follow the right path, so the "sun", hit the moon at wrong times and at wrong places, creating a confusion with the phases.



What is a lunar month?

A lunar month is when the moon make one full circle around the Earth, that is it makes one complete revolvement around the Earth. This is what we refer to as "the month". Once one month is finshed another one begins, meaning that the phases of the moon, and the moon's revolvement begins again. There are 12 months in one year (the time it takes for the Earth to orbit the sun), so that means that in one revolvement around the sun, Earth experiences 12 lunar months, that is the moon circles around the Earth about 12 times.

Below you can find a diagram I created after finishing off the lab:

Something extra!

Theories to how the moon came to be...
One of the theories is that the moon was once part of the Earth, but then, for some reason it broke off, but stayed in the Earth's orbit, because of the gravitational pull. Another theory is that the moon was created somewhere else in space and was floating around until it was captured by the Earth's gravitaional pull. The last theory that I know of is that a big asteroid, the size of Mars truck Earth and a big cloud of dust arose. After a while, that dust condensed, and formed the moon. However, no scientists are sure how the moon actually came to be, as there isn't enough evidence to clearly state how come the moon is orbiting our planet.

What causes an eclipse to occur?

The moon is orbiting around the Earth, the Earth is orbiting around the sun, and sometimes they allign, causing eclipses. There are two types of eclipses the solar and the lunar eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon gets straight in front of the sun, and blocks the sunlight from reaching the Earth. Solar eclipses are really cool, and they are much more rare then lunar eclipses. Lunar eclipses is when the moon gets hidden in the Earth's shadow.





How do the moon, sun and Earth interact to cause so many things to occur?

The moon, the sun and the Earth cause many things, without which we would not be able to live without. Firstly, without the Earth's tilt on it's axis, seasons wouldn't exist, and we wouldn't have different climates, which would be very bad for agriculture, and for growing food. Without the sun, we wouldn't be able to survive, since we would be in a cold, dark place where no living organisms can survive. The moon's gravitational pull causes the tides, so without the moon we wouldn't have them. Another thing that is caused by the moon, sun and Earth are the eclipses, which are a natural phenomenon, that you cannot see very often.

What causes an eclipse and tide?

Above, I wrote about what causes the eclipses, so now I will write a little bit about what tides are and how they are created. Firstly, tides are defined as steady rises and falls of the ocean levels. The gravitational pull of the moon causes tides in different places of the Earth, because it is orbiting around our planet. Most places get two high tides and two low tides each day. There are two types of tides, low and high. High tides happen when the ocean levels increase, while low tides occur when the ocean levels decrease. Tides are important, because their power can be generated and turned into electricity.

1st astronomy lab (seasons)

Guiding question: How does the tilt of Earth’s axis affect the light received by Earth as it revolves around the sun?

Hypothesis: I think that when the Earth is tilted towards the sun, it will get the most sunlight in the northern hemisphere, so therefore, it will be summer. Therefore, when it is winter in our hemisphere, the Earth is tilted further away from the sun, because we are not getting as much sunlight. That is also the reason why the day is shorter during winter.

What is the procedure?
Firstly, you need to gather all the materials that you need for this project. You will need a stack of books, CDs, or anything else to put your flashlight on. The flashlight represents the sun. Then, you will need a wooden stick to put your "Earth" on. The Earth should be represented by a styrofoam ball. You also need a toothpick, which you should put in the middle of the equator and the North Pole. This toothpick will help you, because it will give you an idea of how much light is cast, by the type of shadow that is shown. You will also need a protractor.
So, before you start, you need to tape your wooden stick with the "Earth" on the protractor at 23.5 degree tilt. Then, you should turn on the light, and put an acetate sheet over it, with clearly marked squares. Observe the Earth when it is both tilted away and from the sun. Also, note the pattern of the shadowed squares on the Earth. Where are they the clearest, and how do they look in different places?



Observations (questions from the textbook):
1.When it is winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the most concentrated light is recieved by the places that are around the equator, or a litte bit south. You could see that from the squares whose shadows were on the Earth. At the equator, and in the Southern  Hemisphere, the squares are much more distinct, and can be seen better. However, in the Northern Hemisphere they spread out quite a bit, and they even form rectangles around the North Pole. When it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere, obviously the north gets more direct sunlight. During summer in the North Hemisphere, the countries that probably get the most sunlight are Spain, Portugal, Italy, etc. That would make sense, because those places are the warmest during summer here in the Northern Hemisphere, but also, they are near the equator, where the sunlight is usually centered.
2. During winter, the area between the equator and the North Pole, doesn't get a lot of sunlight, which means that the squares are quite spread out here. Also, the shadow is quite small, because the lighting is mostly focused on the Southern Hemisphere. In the summer however, there is much more concentrated light in that area, so the shadow from the toothpick can be seen more easily, and it goes a farther way. Also, the squares are more sharp and visible in that area then the ones in the Southern Hemisphere.
3. When the squares get larger on the "Earth", it shows that in those places the light is not very concentrated, and therefore in those places the amount of heat would be much smaller then it is in the squares that are smaller, and are usually around the equator.
4. In my opinion, by doing this small lab, I believe that the areas that are the coldest on our planet are probably the Poles. the Northa and the South Pole are almost never exposed to direct light, and therefore the amount of heat is very small. That is why those areas are covered in snow all-year long. As for the warmest, I think that it is the areas that are placed around the equator, because that is where most of the sun is directed to, in both winter and summer. Some of those countries would be the northern part of Africa, Mexico, Guatemala, as well as some parts of Central Asia.
5. The toothpick's shadow will probably be the longest when it is summer in the Northern Hemisphere. I think this because that is when most light in concentrated on that area. When it is winter, the toothpick's shadow is the shortest, because there isn't a lot of light in that area. It is mostly concantrated on the Southern Hemisphere.
6. The further away the angle is centered, most likely is that area not going to get a lot of light and heat, because it is further away from the sun. When the angle is shorter, or smaller, the area will probably get more sunlight, and it will be warmer.

Conclusion:
Basically, the seasons are caused by the tilt of the Earth. Without that tilt we would have no seasons. When the Earth is tilted towards the sun in our perspective, more light is being concentrated in the Northern Hmpisphere. Therefore, there is more heat in the part of the planet we live in. The more tilted the Northern Hemisphere gets, the warmer the weather starts getting. That is why we have spring and then summer. When the Southern Hemisphere is tilted towards the Earth, more light is concetrated there, so people in that part of the world will be experiencing warmer seasons, while we would probably be in autumn or winter. Seasons are and have been very important to our daily lives. Firstly, by following and observing the seasons, people have learned to develop a calendar. Also, by observing the sun at different points in the day, during the Earth's rotation, people learned to make the first sun-based clock. Seasons have also influenced farming, and the rise of civilizations in general.



 

Wave Reflection

How does the use and study of waves affect societal well-being?
Waves help society in many different ways, directly and indirectly. In my opinion, the waves in the electromagnetic spectrum help society the most, and have the most uses. X-rays can help us a lot for medicinal purposes, because they can help us scan our skeletal system, as well as tissues, with the help of a photographic plate. Another type of electromagnetic waves that are highly useful are radio waves. Without radio waves, we would not have television and radio, which would mean that we would not be able to get information as easily, and our forms of entertainment would be limited. Infrared rays are also very useful, because you can get very efficient infrared heaters. Infrared rays can also help us view the world around us differently, by using night vision, and thermography. Another type of wave that can help society a lot is the UV ray. Without UV rays, and sunlight, there would be no life. No plants would be able to grow, and without plants, animals wouldn't be able to survive, and neither could we. However, with the careful studying of UV rays, we have learned that too much exposure to them can lead to skin cancer, so to protect oursevles, we have created sun creams with different factors, that can help us from exposing ourselves to too much sunlight, and potentially dangerous rays.
We have also done a lot of research with water waves, which has helped the society protect itself from natural disasters, such as tsunamis. When people started experiencing tsunamis at first, they didn't know how they were made or what was causing them, so they started to believe that they were a supernatural occurance. However, as we started studting waves more, we learned more about seismic waves, as well as what they were, how they traveled, etc. With our knowledge, we could take precautionary measures to make sure that huge damage after a tsuanmi or an earthquake was prevented. An example of this is Japan. In Tokyo, houses are built to withstand earthquakes that have the magnitude up to 12 deegres on the Richter scale!
The last type of waves that we have learned about are sound waves. With sound waves, we can make music, and with the research we have done with sound waves, we can learn to make better and more efficient instruments. Music is very important in our society, because it is not only a form of entertainment, but it also shows what the culture of a country is like. With the research of sound waves, we have also learned about noise pollution, and how we can prevent people from being harmed because they are frequently exposed to sounds that can negatively affect them.

What did you learn during the unit?  (Looking at the picture you drew-how has your knowledge changed?)

I have learned a lot during this unit, as you can see in the bubbl reflection I made. In this unit I have learned about how waves travel, as well as that there are three main types of waves, and those are longitudinal, surface and transverse waves. I have also learned that waves are all around us, even though we might not see them, and we might not necessarily feel them/ When I created my drawing, I only knew about the waves that we can see, and the waves that were obvious to the human eye, such as waves in the ocean, and sun rays. In this unit, I have learned about the waves in the electromagnetic spectrum, as well as what are their uses, and how they can be dangerous. I would have never guessed that there are so many different types of waves, let alone uses! we have also learned about sound waves. In that part of the unit, I have learned about the Doppler effect, as well as about resonance, and how sound can diffract. Lastly, I have learned about seismic waves, and about why they happen, why they are caused, about different types of faults, etc.

What did you like?

There are many things i enjoyed in this unit. I really liked the debate, because it gave us the opportunity to look at things from a different perspective, and  view a subject from a totally different perspective. It also made us look deeper into the subject, and investigate about the effects, benefits and processes of irradiation. I also really liked doing the presentation about different waves of the electromagnetic spectrum, because that gave us the opportunity to work with people we haven't worked with before. I really liked that we could choose how we did the presentation, because we could be creative while researching and learning about an unfamiliar topic. One of the labs that I enjoyed was the lab we did with the strings, because it was unique, and different, and we got to listen, rather then observe what was happening.

What would you change or add for next year's grade 7 students? 

For the next year, I think that the students should do more debates, because I found the one we did especially fun, and it was probably one of the best parts of the whole unit. It gives a whole new learning experience, and it makes you dig deeper into the subject, and it gets you more itnerested.