It's Just a Phase

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

The moon goes through a cycle of phases. It grows bigger and bigger until it's fully lit up, then gets smaller and smaller until we can no longer see it.

You have likely observed this cycle yourself.

• What other observations have you made?

Test how much you know about the moon!

To figure out how moon phases work, you must understand a little thing called perspective.

From space, the moon always looks the same. Half of the moon is lit up at all times. However, the moon looks different because we can only see part of the illuminated half.

• When the moon is directly between the earth and the sun, which moon phase would be visible from earth?

Approximately two weeks later, the moon will now be on the opposite side of the earth, putting the earth directly between the sun and the moon.

• Which moon phase is visible from earth when the moon is in this location?

The best way to understand moon phases is to create a lunar model.

To do this, you need the following.

Once you've gathered your materials, move to the Got It? section to create your very own moon model.