Around and Round: Lunar Phases, Planetary Orbits, and Seasons

Preliminary Concepts

The Earth rotates, or spins on its axis, once every 24 hours.
The Earth orbits around the Sun (revolves) once every year.
The Moon doesn’t shine — it reflects the light of the Sun.

Misconceptions are very common for both seasons and lunar phases; both topics require well-developed spatial abilities as well as a firm understanding of the relationships between the Sun, Earth, and Moon in order to be able to conceptualize the causes. Elementary students can focus on the changing appearance of the Moon and discover the cyclical nature of the phases over time; they can also discover the changing position of the Sun in the sky, both during the day and over the seasons.

Activities Modeling the Solar System

Scale of the Solar System
Solar System Scale Activity
This simple activity from the McDonald Observatory uses a strip of paper to model the scale of the solar system. Students make a prediction of the scale on one side, then use folds to create and compare a more accurate model on the other side.
Modeling the Night Sky
Students explore the Earth and Sun's positions in relation to the constellations of the ecliptic with a small model. Then they extend to explore the motions of the Earth and inner planets in a larger classroom-size model.

Activities for Teaching Seasons

Data Inquiry Activity: Heating Things Up
Students graph average high monthly temperatures for different cities to learn how temperatures vary by location and by season.
SunWatchers
Students observe the sunrise and sunset positions of the Sun and its altitude in the sky over a year to connect with the Sun’s apparent motions over a year.
Reasons for Seasons
Students explore a model of the Earth’s daily rotation and annual revolution around the Sun. There are a variety of write-ups for this activity available from different sources; another great sources is the GEMS guide Reasons for the Seasons.
Daylight Hours
Students reinforce their understanding of seasonal dynamics by reading and graphing annual day-length data to determine the relative north or south latitude, and name, of their “mystery city.”

Activities for Teaching Lunar Phases

Moon Observations
Students record data about Moon phases on a data sheet over the course of one complete Moon cycle (approximately 28 days).
Oreo Phases
Students will recreate the lunar phases using the frosting from Oreo® cookies. Round cream cheese crackers can also be used if cookies are not an option.
How Far is the Moon
Students reinforce their understanding of seasonal dynamics by reading and graphing annual day-length data to determine the relative north or south latitude, and name, of their “mystery city.”
Golf-ball Phases and Embroidery Hoop Eclipses
In the first half, students explore the dynamics of lunar phases to develop an understanding of the relative positions of our Moon, Earth, and Sun that cause the phases of the Moon as viewed from Earth. Using a golf ball glowing under the ultraviolet light of a “blacklight” makes it easier to see the actual phase of the Moon. In the second half, students adjust their orbits of their moons to gain a deeper understanding of eclipses.
Lunar Phases: A Dance with the Sun
This activity creates a model with the real Moon and Sun in the sky to help participants discover the real reason for the lunar phases.
Paper Plate Phases
Students use paper plates with various phases to create a three dimensional model of the lunar phases relative to the Earth and Sun, as both an assessment of their understanding and to continue to build a conceptual model through kinesthetic activities.

Resources

Seasons Resources
Websites, activities, and materials that may be useful
Moon Phases Resources
Websites, activities, and materials that may be useful
Tides Resources
Websites, activities, and materials that may be useful
Powerpoints
These were created for use in workshops; feel free to borrow the images and information for your own classes, but you may need to alter the information to make it more appropriate for your students’ level.