Phases of the Moon

Audio Transcript Auto-generated

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  Hello folks for this presentation, I'm going to be explaining

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  a resource I created for a grade 45 lesson on

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  the phases of Earth's moon.

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  And just to let viewers know since this is made

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  with a Prezi it can cause motion sickness for some

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  people, I like to start off lessons by asking questions

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  and having students access and talk about any prior knowledge

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  they may have on a topic.

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  So here we would talk, talk as a class and

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  write down some of our thoughts or wonders about the

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  moon. Next we will talk about what lunar phases are

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  and some different aspects of them.

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  So for where does the moon's light come from?

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  We'll be talking about how the moon and other objects

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  in the sky are illuminated by sunlight and how the

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  moon's changing appearance isn't from magically changing its size, but

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  by how much sunlight is or is not being reflected

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  by it.

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  And when we talk about how many phases there are,

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  we might reference some things that we wrote down as

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  a class or students can offer the names of the

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  phases by may be looking at this visual and students

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  have may have noticed the number of phases labeled on

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  the main page of the president, but I do not

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  mind rewarding perceptive students with a right answer.

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  Now, this last question about how long the lunar cycle

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  is will probably be a tricky question, but I think

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  it's a great time to discuss how a full moon

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  is never on the same day each month and how

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  you could work in having students look through calendars even

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  from different years to see how much can change from

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  month to month and year to year.

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  And then we start working through the different lunar phases.

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  So for all eight phases, the class will talk about

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  where the sun, moon and Earth are in space for

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  a new moon.

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  We don't see it as this is when the sun's

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  light is on the far side of the moon.

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  And we'll work through how these objects are positioned in

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  the sky as a class Next uh the waxing crescent

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  where we only see the right side lit by the

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  sun. And the use of the word waxing can be

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  strange in this context.

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  So I like to include an explanation that to wax

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  or waxing means to increase in size gradually.

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  And that this used to be used in the place

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  of the word grow.

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  And you can ask the class if anyone can offer

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  an explanation of the word crescent, so that both terms

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  are covered and this equips them with a good understanding

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  of the terms.

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  So they can really elevate their comprehension of the topic,

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  the next phases, the first quarter.

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  Now this can be confusing to students because as you

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  see in the photo half of the moon is illuminated.

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  So here we revisit the idea of the lunar cycle

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  and that well half the moon is illuminated.

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  The lunar cycle has just hit its one quarter mark.

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  This is a great time to ask learners what they

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  think the halfway mark might be to get them kind

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  of trying to think ahead and see what might be

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  coming. Then we move to the waxing gibbous, which most

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  certainly will have students asking what give us means.

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  And the explanation is fairly simple and that the word

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  give us comes from the root word which means humpbacked.

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  So I love this because it helps students remember that

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  gibbous has that rounded but not full shape to it.

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  The full moon is the lunar phase that most learners

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  will be familiar with depending on the class.

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  This could be a great time to pause the lesson

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  for a body break where students can let out a

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  howl like a wolf and just get up from their

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  desks and move around a little bit uh and making

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  sure to emphasize at this point that this is the

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  halfway through the lunar cycle.

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  And at this halfway point it's a great time to

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  give the chat the class another chance to make more

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  predictions on what they think the other phases will be

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  and maybe ask them to remind you what the starting

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  point was.

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  Okay, here we are at waning gibbous, not waxing waning.

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  So learners will likely remember the word give us from

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  a couple of phases ago.

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  But waning is another new term.

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  The teacher can explain the waiting is the process of

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  diminishing or becoming smaller.

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  So the class can discuss the differences in the terms

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  waxing and waning and come up with ways to remember

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  when each term is used and how which side of

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  the moon being dark or illuminated can tell them if

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  it's waxing or waning.

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  Here at the third quarter, sometimes called the Last quarter

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  Moon. Once again, it's good to put that emphasis on

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  the connection of the phases name to where it sits

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  in the lunar cycle, not necessarily how much of the

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  moon is dark or illuminated.

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  And we end at the eight phase, the waning crescent

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  and once again revisiting the terms waning and crescent.

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  Next we'll have a brief class discussion to work out

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  anything that might surprise learners, any connections they made or

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  something they are wondering about before the teacher starts to

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  explain the class activity.

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  Since this lesson can be quite long, it might be

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  best to go through the first part before recess or

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  lunch and then come back for the activity where students

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  get to use a light source acting as the sun,

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  um and then a foam ball on a pencil acting

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  as the moon.

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  And as they turn towards or away from the light,

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  their view of the foam ball simulates our view of

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  the moon from earth.

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  And the link to this activity comes from the education

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  section of Nasa's website and definitely should be read over

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  thoroughly to ensure you have all the necessary materials before

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  attempting this with your class.

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  Well, thanks for making it all the way to the

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  end of this video and I hope it has inspired

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  you in your elementary astronomy teaching.