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.
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.
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