Moon Phases

In Science, we have really been enjoying ourselves learning about the phases of the Moon. During the month of February, students observed the Moon each night outside their window and recorded it's changing appearance, allowing them to see 28 days of our Moon's 29 day cycle.

We have learned that the Moon has phases because it orbits Earth, which causes the portion we see illuminated to change. The Moon takes about 27 days to orbit Earth, but the lunar phase cycle (from new Moon to new Moon) lasts about 29 days. The Moon spends the extra 2 days "catching up" because Earth travels about 45 million miles around the Sun during the time the Moon completes one orbit around Earth.

Click here to see what each child's completed calendar should look like:
February Moon Phase Calendar

As we have studied the Moon's phases,we have also made booklets to help us learn what each phase is called. In doing this, our classes have identified several phases as being landmark phases. These are:

1) New Moon (the first (1)and last (29) day in our booklets )
At the new Moon phase, the Moon is so close to the Sun in the sky that none of the side facing Earth is illuminated. In other words, the Moon is between Earth and Sun.

2) First Quarter Moon (Day 8 in our booklet)
ONE QUARTER (the RIGHT quarter that we see) is lit....here, the moon is highest in the sky at sunset, then sets about six hours later.

3) Full Moon (Day 15 in our booklet- the middle day in the 29 day cycle)
On this day, the Moon is behind Earth in space with respect to the Sun. As the Sun sets, the Moon rises with the side that faces Earth fully exposed to sunlight. We are able to see the entire illuminated half of the moon! (Did you know that only one half of our Moon is always illuminated by our Sun, and that we NEVER see the other half from Earth??!!).

4) Last Quarter Moon (Day 21 in our booklet) ONE QUARTER (the LEFT quarter that we see) is lit.... (opposite of the First Quarter Moon).

Other terms students need to be famaliar with help to explain other phases that fall between these landmark phases are Waxing, Waning, Crescent and Gibbous. Refer to your child's Moon Phase booklet and accompanying lab sheet for more specifics.

Be sure to also ask your child about two other labs we are participating in on the Moon's Phases this week. You can also reference our science textbook HERE for more study information.

Don't forget to visit GIZMOS to review the 3-day virtual lab we worked on in class!! Thanks to Katelyn for her comment to this blog post- this online tool is the BEST at helping to show and explain the occurance of Moon Phases!

You can also click HERE to see a simple, quick time-lapsed video of the Moon Phase Cycle.