Click "Print Lesson" button to use your browser print Student Name: Alethea
Date Printed: Jan 11, 2015
Science 3
Unit 10: Sun, Earth, and Moon
Lesson 1: Earth and Sun
Duration: Approx. 60 min.
There are one or more assessments in this lesson. Offline assessments and answer keys can be printed from the materials lists. Online assessments must be printed from the assessment itself within the lesson.
Firefox cannot print Flash images. The on-screen images might print as blank spaces. If you need to print this lesson, try using Internet Explorer so that all the images print.
For the Adult
*eggs, hard-boiled
*eggs, raw
*orange - large
*light bulb, 100 watt
*lamp
*markers
*pencil
(Optional) Beyond The Lesson: Spinning
1 day
Cook one hard-boiled egg.
Lesson 1: Earth and Sun
| axis | |
| a straight line through the center of an object around which it rotates; Earth's axis is an imaginary line that goes through the North and South Poles |
Investigation: Shadows and the Earth
This lesson involves eating or working with food. Check with your doctor, if necessary, to find out whether your student will have any allergic reaction to the food.
This activity is best completed online.
| Why do we have day and night? What is a year? Investigate the shape and movement of the Earth to answer these questions and more. | | |||||||
| Lesson Overview
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This activity is best completed online.
| The Earth is Moving Did you ever wonder whether the Earth is moving? Well, it is. The Earth always moves around the sun, and it also spins on its axis. Find out more about the Earth's shape and movements. |
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| Do you have a soccer ball handy? The Earth is shaped kind of like a soccer ball, which is a sphere. A sphere is a round, three-dimensional object. Each spot on the surface of a perfect sphere is exactly the same distance from the center as all the other spots. So, the Earth isn't exactly a sphere. It has mountains and valleys, places of different heights, farther from and nearer to the center of the Earth. But they are small compared to the Earth's whole size. | |
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Answer(s):
[1]
Greek scientists were the first to suggest that the Earth is spherical, or round, rather than flat
[2]
Explain to your student that a three-dimensional object is not flat. A three-dimensional object has height, width, and depth.
| Also, the Earth is very slightly flattened at the top and very slightly bulgy in the middle. Sitting on your soccer ball makes it lightly flat at the top and bottom and slightly bulging in the middle. Our planet--even though way bigger than a soccer ball--has a similar shape. But, like the mountains and valleys, the flattening and bulging are so small you couldn't see them easily just by looking at the whole Earth. | |
| You probably know that you, your house, and everything else on Earth are constantly spinning around. You can’t feel the spinning motion because everything is traveling around at the same speed. The Earth turns around like a spinning top, though not as fast. If you watch a top spinning, you’ll see that it turns around a sort of “line” that runs up through the center of the top. This line is the top’s axis. | |
| An axis is a line, real or imaginary, that runs through the center of an object and around which it spins. Earth spins around an axis that connects the North Pole to the South Pole straight through the center of the planet. The Earth’s axis is tilted slightly. Now imagine a huge circle around the middle of the Earth, as far as possible from the axis. Do you know that circle's name? [1] That the axis is tilted means that the equator is also tilted. The fact that the Earth spins, or rotates, on its axis has everything to do with whether it is night or day where you live. | |
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Answer(s):
[1]
[1] the equator
| Have you ever woken up early to see the sun rise over the horizon? The sun's position in the sky keeps changing throughout the day. It rises higher and higher in the sky and then moves lower and lower until it finally dips below the horizon again. People always talk about how the sun moves across the sky. But it isn't the sun that's moving--it's the Earth! The Earth takes 24 hours to rotate completely around on its axis. The side of Earth facing the sun has daylight. The opposite side is in darkness. The darkness is the Earth's own shadow. But the Earth actually moves in two ways. It rotates on its axis, and it also travels around the sun. | |
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Answer(s):
[1]
The time it takes the Earth to rotate one time on its axis is actually a tad longer than 24 hours - about 0.002 seconds longer, in fact. It takes 500 of these fractions to add up to one second. To deal with these extra seconds, people who keep very close track of time add one "leap second" to most years.
| While the Earth is rotating, it is also circling around the sun. This motion is called revolving, or revolution. Revolution is the movement of one object around another. It takes about 365 days or one year for the Earth to complete one revolution around the sun. The path that the Earth takes as it revolves around the sun is called the Earth's orbit. The Earth's orbit around the sun is almost, but not quite, a perfect circle. And the sun is just about in the middle of that circle. The distance between the Earth and sun hardly changes at all as the Earth orbits around the sun. | |
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Answer(s):
[1]
The Earth travels at about 107,275 kilometers per hour (about 30km per second) to make one complete revolution around the sun in one year. It takes close to 365.25 days for the Earth to revolve once.
[2]
The distance between the Earth and sun is about 150 million kilometers (93 million miles). If you could travel to the sun at the speed with which a car typically moves on a highway-say, 88 kilometers per hour (55mph)-and didn't stop along the way, it would take you 193 years to get to the sun.
[3]
Your student should be aware that representations such as the one here showing the sun and the Earth in one picture (after the animation is started) are usually inaccurate for the relationship between the sizes of the two and the distance between them. Its purpose is to show the nature of the motion only. If we were to show their sizes to the same scale as their distance on the computer screen, the sun would be barely visible, and the Earth would not be visible. In a later lesson, the student will learn more about the relative sizes and distances, not only of the sun and Earth, but of all the other planets.
This activity is best completed online.
SAFETY: This lesson involves eating or working with food. Check with your doctor, if necessary, to find out whether your student will have any allergic reaction to the food.
| Shadows and the Earth Use an orange as the Earth and a lamp as the sun to explore why we have night and day. Print the Night and Day activity sheet if you have not done so already. Follow the instructions in your student guide to complete this activity. |
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Lesson Assessment: Earth and Sun
Print this offline assessment and answer key using the links below. You will need to enter your student's results online later.
This activity is best completed online.
| Spinning Underneath its hard outer crust, Earth has liquids inside. Having liquid inside changes how it spins on its axis. Use two eggs to learn about this. Follow the instructions in your Student Guide to complete the activity. |
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Click "Print Lesson" button to use your browser print Student Name: Alethea
Date Printed: Jan 11, 2015
Science 3
Unit 10: Sun, Earth, and Moon
Lesson 2: The Seasons
Duration: Approx. 60 min.
There are one or more assessments in this lesson. Offline assessments and answer keys can be printed from the materials lists. Online assessments must be printed from the assessment itself within the lesson.
Firefox cannot print Flash images. The on-screen images might print as blank spaces. If you need to print this lesson, try using Internet Explorer so that all the images print.
For the Adult
*ruler
*markers
*flashlight
*lamp
*orange
*Sunshine Makes the Seasons by Franklyn M. Branley
*pencil
*tape, masking
Lesson 2: The Seasons
| axis | |
| a straight line through the center of an object around which it rotates; Earth's axis is an imaginary line that goes through the North and South Poles |
| equator | |
| An imaginary line around a planet halfway between its North and South Poles. The equator divides the planet into a Northern Hemisphere and a Southern Hemisphere. |
| season | |
| One of four periods of the year having characteristic average temperature, weather conditions, and length of time the sun shines during a day. |
Investigation: Sunshine Makes the Seasons
This lesson involves eating or working with food. Check with your doctor, if necessary, to find out whether your student will have any allergic reaction to the food.
This activity is best completed online.
| In winter I get up at night And dress by yellow candle-light. In summer, quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day. --- Robert Louis Stevenson, from "Bed in Summer," in A Child's Garden of Verses | | |||||
| Lesson Overview
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This activity is best completed online.
SAFETY: This lesson involves eating or working with food. Check with your doctor, if necessary, to find out whether your student will have any allergic reaction to the food.
| Sunshine Makes the Seasons Do you have four seasons where you live? Read Sunshine Makes the Seasons by Franklyn M. Branley and make a model Earth out of an orange to learn more about what causes the seasons. Print the Sunshine Makes the Seasons activity sheet if you have not done so already, then click the arrow to begin the activity. |
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| This lesson will begin with the book Sunshine Makes the Seasons, by Franklyn Branley. This book lesson gives an introduction to the concept that the seasons come about because of the Earth's position and motion in relationship to the massive sun. Refer to the Sunshine Make the Seasons Guide, which you will need while you're reading the book. |
This activity is best completed online.
| It sure gets hot down at the equator, but the North and South Poles stay pretty chilly. And it's warmer in summer than winter. Explore how the angle of the sun's rays affects how warm the Earth is. Print the Graph Paper if you have not done so already. Follow the instructions in your student guide to complete this activity. |
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Lesson Assessment: The Seasons
Print this offline assessment and answer key using the links below. You will need to enter your student's results online later.
Click "Print Lesson" button to use your browser print Student Name: Alethea
Date Printed: Jan 11, 2015
Science 3
Unit 10: Sun, Earth, and Moon
Lesson 3: Phases of the Moon
Duration: Approx. 60 min.
There are one or more assessments in this lesson. Offline assessments and answer keys can be printed from the materials lists. Online assessments must be printed from the assessment itself within the lesson.
Firefox cannot print Flash images. The on-screen images might print as blank spaces. If you need to print this lesson, try using Internet Explorer so that all the images print.
For the Adult
*The Moon Seems to Change by Franklyn M. Branley
*pencil
*lamp - without shade
*orange
*markers
Lesson 3: Phases of the Moon
| lunar cycle | |
| The repeating pattern of changes in the appearance of the moon as it goes through its various phases. |
Investigation: The Moon Seems to Change
As usual, you may wish to preview any books or websites listed in this lesson.
This lesson involves eating or working with food. Check with your doctor, if necessary, to find out whether your student will have any allergic reaction to the food.
This activity is best completed online.
| Did you see the moon yesterday? Did it look the same as it did the day before? Was it out in the daytime or the nighttime? Did it look like a big white ball, or a little sliver? The moon stays the same, but it can look very different from day to day. Explore how the positions of the moon, the sun, and the Earth make this happen. | | |||||
| Lesson Overview
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This activity is best completed online.
SAFETY: As usual, you may wish to preview any books or websites listed in this lesson.
This lesson involves eating or working with food. Check with your doctor, if necessary, to find out whether your student will have any allergic reaction to the food.
| The Moon Seems to Change What do the words new, crescent, quarter, gibbous, and full have in common? They are all names of phases that the moon goes through. But what causes these phases? Read The Moon Seems to Change to find out. Print The Moon Seems to Change activity sheet if you have not done so already, then click the arrow to begin the activity. |
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| Do you ever go outside at night and look up at the moon? Have you noticed that you see it as different shapes at different times during the month? You probably noticed that sometimes it looks full and round, and other times it just looks like a little sliver of light. But do you know why the moon seems to change shape? As you read The Moon Seems to Change by Franklyn Branley you will find out. Refer to The Moon Seems to Change Guide to help you through the activity. | |
This activity is best completed online.
| A Month of Phases You have learned that it takes about a month for the moon to go through all of its phases. Visit a website to chart the next month’s worth of moon phases on a calendar. Then you can become a “Sky Watcher” over the next month to see if they were right. Print the Moon Phases Calendar activity sheet if you have not done so already, then click the arrow to begin the activity. |
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| Do you know what phase the moon will be in tonight or tomorrow night? Using the Moon Phases Calendar, chart the phases of the moon visible each day/evening. You will visit the website below to gather the information needed. You should identify each phase observed by drawing the way the moon looks and naming it. Then over the next month, observe the night sky and draw what you see on the calendar for each day. Visit Virtual Reality Moon Phase Pictures to track the order of the phases over the next month on your Moon Phases Calendar. Then compare what you actually see each night as you become a night Sky Watcher. |
Lesson Assessment: Phases of the Moon
Print this offline assessment and answer key using the links below. You will need to enter your student's results online later.
Click "Print Lesson" button to use your browser print Student Name: Alethea
Date Printed: Jan 11, 2015
Science 3
Unit 10: Sun, Earth, and Moon
Lesson 4: Eclipses
Duration: Approx. 60 min.
There are one or more assessments in this lesson. Offline assessments and answer keys can be printed from the materials lists. Online assessments must be printed from the assessment itself within the lesson.
Firefox cannot print Flash images. The on-screen images might print as blank spaces. If you need to print this lesson, try using Internet Explorer so that all the images print.
For the Adult
*toothpick
*household item - clay
*grapes
*orange
*flashlight
Lesson 4: Eclipses
| eclipse | |
| The darkening of a planet, moon, or other object in space by the shadow of another object in space. |
Investigation: How Does an Eclipse Happen?
This lesson involves eating or working with food. Before beginning, check with your doctor, if necessary, to find out whether your student will have any allergic reactions to the food.
(Optional) Beyond The Lesson: Upcoming Eclipses
Never look directly into the sun.
As usual, you may wish to preview the websites listed in this lesson.
This activity is best completed online.
| Eclipses of the moon and sun are rare but amazing to see. During a lunar eclipse, the moon darkens to a deep red color. During a total solar eclipse, the moon blocks the sun. Learn how the sun, Earth, and moon line up to make these eclipses happen. | | |||||||
| Lesson Overview
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This activity is best completed online.
| Lunar and Solar Eclipses You have learned that the Earth revolves around the sun and the moon revolves around the Earth. But what happens when all three are in a straight line? Read on to find out. |
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| In a previous lesson, Moon Phases, you used a model of the moon to show how the moon's motion in relationship to the Earth and the sun causes the appearance of the moon to change. Do you remember how long it takes the moon to revolve once around the Earth? [1] How long does it take the moon to rotate once on its axis? [2] The moon orbits the Earth once in the same amount of time it takes to spin on its axis. So, here on Earth, we always see the same side of the moon. | |
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Answer(s):
[1]
[1] about one month (29 days)
[2] about one month (29 days)
[2] about one month (29 days)
| The moon changes shape--or does it? The moon appears to change shape because we can't always see the entire part of the moon that is lighted by the sun. We see the different shapes, or phases, of the moon because the moon changes position in relation to the Earth and sun. Can you name the moon's phases, in order, from one new moon to the next? [1] | |
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Answer(s):
[1]
[1] new moon, crescent, first quarter, gibbous, full moon, gibbous, third quarter, crescent, new moon
| Have you ever made shadow puppets? What happens when you place your hand between a light source and a wall? A shadow in the shape of your hand is cast onto the wall. Shadows form when light is blocked. Opaque (oh-PAYK) objects, such as your hand or a door (as seen onscreen), keep light from passing through them. This same thing happens in space. The Earth and the moon are opaque, so they cast shadows. Do you think other planets cast shadows as well? Sure they do! Most of the time they cast their shadows into space, where nobody sees them. But sometimes the Earth and moon line up in just the right way with the sun to cast shadows on each other. When this happens, an eclipse takes place. | |
| An eclipse occurs when an object in space casts its shadow on a planet, moon, or other object in space. When the Earth's shadow falls on the moon, the moon grows dark in a lunar eclipse (an eclipse of the moon). During a lunar eclipse the moon is a dark reddish color. | |
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Answer(s):
[1]
The faint red color of the moon during a lunar eclipse is caused by the refraction (bending) of light moving through our atmosphere toward the moon. The red light passes most easily through the atmosphere (the sun looks red at sunset). So the refracted light hitting the moon looks reddish. Remember -- an object's color is due to the color of light reflected or scattered off its surface.
| A solar eclipse (an eclipse of the sun) occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth. The moon blocks out the sun and casts a shadow on the Earth. People living where the moon's shadow falls cannot see the entire sun. The moon appears just about the same size as the bright sun. But even when the moon blocks our view of the brightest part of the sun, the corona (the far outer, less bright part of the sun) is still visible. Because of the sizes of the sun, the moon, and the Earth, and the distances among them, the moon's shadow can cover only a small area of Earth at one time. | |
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Answer(s):
[1]
When the entire moon passes through Earth's shadow, a total lunar eclipse occurs. If only part of the moon passes through Earth's shadow, a partial lunar eclipse takes place. Solar eclipses happen in a similar way. If the moon covers only part of the sun from where you watch, you see only a partial solar eclipse.
| To get a shadow for an eclipse, the sun, Earth, and moon need to be in a straight line. The moon orbits the Earth about once a month, which would seem to make them line up every month, making an eclipse. So why don't lunar and solar eclipses happen every month? Compared to the Earth's orbit around the sun, the moon's orbit tilts slightly. At those times when the sun, Earth and moon would appear to line up from above the Earth's orbit, they are usually out of line, as you'd see by looking from the side. The shadow misses. That's shown here as ''no eclipse.'' The Earth's shadow usually misses the moon and the moon's shadow usually misses the Earth. | |
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Answer(s):
[1]
The ancient Chinese had a story that eclipses happened when a dragon in the sky tried to swallow the sun.
| Although eclipses don't happen monthly, astronomers can accurately predict when they will occur and where people on Earth can see them. About two solar eclipses and two to three lunar eclipses occur each year. Click Eclipses to see eclipse simulations. | |
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This activity is best completed online.
SAFETY: This lesson involves eating or working with food. Before beginning, check with your doctor, if necessary, to find out whether your student will have any allergic reactions to the food.
| How Does an Eclipse Happen? How can a grape, an orange, and a flashlight help you learn about eclipses? Try this activity and see. Follow the instructions in your student guide to complete this activity. |
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Lesson Assessment: Eclipses
This assessment is best completed online, where it will be automatically scored by the computer. If you would like to print it, do so from the assessment itself within the lesson.
This activity is best completed online.
SAFETY: Never look directly into the sun.
As usual, you may wish to preview the websites listed in this lesson.
| Upcoming Eclipses Have you ever seen a real lunar or a solar eclipse? If you haven't, here is your chance to find out when the next one is. Just remember--it is never safe to look directly into the sun, especially during a solar eclipse. |
| You have learned that about two solar eclipses and two to three lunar eclipses occur each year. But you may not be able to see them from where you live. Visit Sky and Telescope: Upcoming Eclipses to see the dates of upcoming eclipses and where you can see them around the world. Be sure to mark these dates so you don't miss this fantastic experience. If you want to find another year, type 'eclipses' in the search field. | |
Click "Print Lesson" button to use your browser print Student Name: Alethea
Date Printed: Jan 11, 2015
Science 3
Unit 10: Sun, Earth, and Moon
Lesson 5: Lunar Landscape
Duration: Approx. 60 min.
There are one or more assessments in this lesson. Offline assessments and answer keys can be printed from the materials lists. Online assessments must be printed from the assessment itself within the lesson.
Firefox cannot print Flash images. The on-screen images might print as blank spaces. If you need to print this lesson, try using Internet Explorer so that all the images print.
For the Adult
*flour - 7100mL (9 cups)
*ruler
*newspaper - or magazines
*pebbles/stones - small
*ball - small and different sizes (3)
*pan - 9x13
*The Moon Book by Gail Gibbons
*cocoa - 100mL (1/4 cup)
(Optional) Beyond The Lesson: The Mysterious Moon
1 day
If you don't already have it, you will need The Moon Book by Gail Gibbons. (New York: Holiday House, 1997) for the optional activity in this lesson.
Lesson 5: Lunar Landscape
| craters | |
| Depressions on the surface caused by impacts of objects hitting the surface, usually with raised rims. |
| | Galileo Galilei [gal-uh-LEE-oh gal-uh-LAY-ee] |
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| | rilles [rilz] |
| Long, narrow cracks or valleys on the surface of the moon. |
Investigation: Create Some Craters!
This lesson involves eating or working with food. Check with your doctor, if necessary, to find out whether your student will have any allergic reaction to the food.
Wear safety goggles while performing this activity.
This activity is best completed online.
| When you see a full moon, it looks like a face looking back at you. That's why many people call it the man in the moon. Explore the lunar (moon) landscape to see what's really on the surface of the moon, giving it that appearance. | | |||||||
| Lesson Overview
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This activity is best completed online.
| The Surface of the Moon Meteoroids, maria, and meteorites, oh my! Learn what we see on the surface of the moon and how it became that way. |
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| What do you see when you look up at the full moon? Do you see patches of light and dark gray? Different places on the surface of the moon reflect light differently. Which areas reflect more light--the dark areas or the light areas? [1] If you look through binoculars or a small telescope, you will see the same features the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei (ga-luh-LAY-oh ga-luh-LAY-ee) saw about 400 years ago. Take a minute to look at the moon up close. What do you observe? | |
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Answer(s):
[1]
[1] The light areas reflect more light than the dark areas.
| People once thought that the dark areas looked like oceans. They named them maria (MAHR-ee-uh; singular: mare, MAHR-ay), a Latin word meaning seas. Now, even a small telescope can show low ridges and small craters in maria, so they cannot be liquid. We now know that the surface of the moon has no liquid water, although a significant amount of frozen water has recently been discovered on the shadowed part of the moon. So what are these dark areas? Maria are low areas covered with rocky soil and shallow dust. They are broad and flat, like plains or grasslands here on Earth. But there aren't any grasses on the moon. In fact, there is no life at all on the moon. The moon has no liquid water, wind, or air. | |
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Answer(s):
[1]
Lava is hot liquid rock that comes from deep within a planet or moon. On Earth, it comes out of volcanoes that erupt when the pressure inside becomes great enough to push lava out.
[2]
Liquid water could not exist on the moon because it would evaporate into space easily. However, some evidence suggests that plenty of ice exists in places that are always shaded from the sun, perhaps in shallow underground layers. Even so, scientists would like more evidence, to be certain.
[3]
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to step onto the moon.
| Evidence suggests maria were formed billions of years ago when lava--hot, liquid rock--poured out of the inside of the moon and filled the low places. | |
| With your Magnifier you might have noticed long, narrow cracks or valleys, called rilles (rilz). Most are straight, and scientists think they were made when the surface of the moon cracked. Others bend and twist like rivers. These are thought to have formed from lava flows. The light-gray areas on the moon are rough and mountainous. These are the highlands. Some mountains on the moon are as tall as mountains on Earth, up to 5,000 meters or more. | |
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Answer(s):
[1]
Most of the maria are on the side of the moon that faces the Earth. Most of the highlands are on the side of the moon that faces away from the Earth.
| The most obvious features on the moon's surface are craters. They look like round pits. The moon has billions of craters, of all sizes. Some are less than 30 centimeters (1 foot) wide and others are nearly 1,100 km (700 miles) wide. That’s about the distance from Chicago to Washington D.C. Can you imagine a crater that big? | |
| How did the moon's craters form? The smaller craters formed when meteoroids smashed into the moon. Meteoroids are small, rocky objects in space. Many meteoroids enter the Earth's atmosphere, but most burn up high in the sky. This is because they are heated by friction with the air. They make streaks of light called meteors or shooting stars. Only very large meteoroids or asteroids reach the Earth's surface and make a crater. Asteroids are rocky like meteoroids, but larger and much less common. Those that do reach Earth tend to be slowed by the atmosphere, making their craters smaller. Only rarely does one big enough to make a large crater reach Earth. Unlike Earth, the moon does not have an atmosphere--no air and no wind. So meteoroids do not burn up before they reach the moon. Even tiny ones hit the moon's surface and form craters. | |
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Answer(s):
[1]
Without an atmosphere, Earth would be much colder at night, and much hotter in the daytime.
Our atmosphere absorbs energy and provides
it to the Earth after dark. At night on the moon, temperatures can get lower than any place on
Earth (-175°C). During the day the moon gets
so hot (130°C) that you would burn yourself if
you touched a moonrock.
Our atmosphere absorbs energy and provides
it to the Earth after dark. At night on the moon, temperatures can get lower than any place on
Earth (-175°C). During the day the moon gets
so hot (130°C) that you would burn yourself if
you touched a moonrock.
[2]
Some scientists define asteroids as rocky objects in space larger than 10 meters. Others define them as being larger than 100 meters. The rocky objects smaller than asteroids are meteoroids. Ones that strike a planet (or moon) are called meteorites.
| Many of the moon's larger craters were likely formed when comets or asteroids hit the moon. Comets have a solid center of ice, dust, and frozen gases, and a tail made of dust and gas. Both comets and asteroids orbit the sun. | |
| The moon's soil is dark gray to brownish gray. It is made up of tiny pieces of rock, bits of glass, and larger chunks of rock. How does moon soil form? On Earth, soil forms when wind and water break down rocks into tiny particles, such as sand and clay. But the moon has no weather. It has no clouds, no rain, and no wind. Rocks there break down much more slowly, and wind and water don’t move pieces of rock from place to place. So craters on the moon can last for millions of years. Many of the moon’s craters and rocks have changed very little, or not at all, since they first formed. | |
| When the first astronauts collected moon soil, scientists looked at it through a microscope and saw many little glass balls. These were probably caused when meteorites splattered hot, liquid droplets of glass minerals. People knew very little about the moon’s surface before 1609 when Galileo gazed out into space. Now, thanks to Galileo and observers after him, and thanks to space exploration and moon landings, we have learned much more. We have detailed photos and lunar maps, as well as moon rocks. Even though astronauts last landed on the moon in December of 1972, we are still studying the information they collected. | |
This activity is best completed online.
SAFETY: This lesson involves eating or working with food. Check with your doctor, if necessary, to find out whether your student will have any allergic reaction to the food.
Wear safety goggles while performing this activity.
| Create Some Craters! You have learned all about how meteoroids and larger objects cause craters when they hit the surface of the moon. Now try using flour, cocoa and balls of different sizes to make some craters of your own. Print the Create Some Craters! activity sheet if you have not done so already. Follow the instructions in your student guide to complete this activity. |
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Lesson Assessment: Lunar Landscape
Print this offline assessment and answer key using the links below. You will need to enter your student's results online later.
This activity is best completed online.
| The Mysterious Moon You have uncovered a lot of mysteries about the moon, but have you learned everything there is to know? Read The Moon Book to learn more about the mysterious moon. |
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| If you have enjoyed learning about the moon, you may want to read The Moon Book by Gail Gibbons (Holiday House: New York, 1997). After you are finished reading, make up moon trivia questions and answers to use with your family. |
Click "Print Lesson" button to use your browser print Student Name: Alethea
Date Printed: Jan 11, 2015
Science 3
Unit 10: Sun, Earth, and Moon
Lesson 6: Origin of the Moon
Duration: Approx. 60 min.
Firefox cannot print Flash images. The on-screen images might print as blank spaces. If you need to print this lesson, try using Internet Explorer so that all the images print.
For the Adult
*string
*ball - small
*spool - with thread
*scissors
*tape, masking
*resealable sandwich bag
*marbles - bag
*meter stick
(Optional) Investigation: Around and Around
Complete this activity in a large, open area. Caution your student to be careful when swinging the ball over her head.
This activity is best completed online.
| Over time scientists have had many ideas about how the moon formed. Scientists are always collecting information to test their ideas. Today, new information, such as the nature of samples from the moon itself, helps give most scientists confidence in one main explanation as to how the moon formed. Learn about this hypothesis. | | |||||
| Lesson Overview
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| Optional Lesson Instructions This lesson is OPTIONAL. It is provided for students who seek enrichment or extra practice. You may skip this lesson. If you choose to skip this lesson, then go to the Plan or Lesson Lists page and mark this lesson “Skipped” in order to proceed to the next lesson in the course. |
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| Origin of the Moon Scientists have gathered a lot of information and developed many ideas about how the moon formed. Learn more about the main current view, called the large-impact hypothesis, and why the moon orbits the Earth. |
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| You've gazed at the moon, seen its phases, and have even viewed its surface up close with the Magnifier. What features did you see on the moon's surface? [1] You know that there is no life on the moon. It has no atmosphere--no air or wind--and no liquid water. Do you remember what caused most of the moon's craters? [2] You've also been recording the phases of the moon on your Moon Phase Calendar. What phase is the moon in now? You know a lot about the moon. But there are a few important things you may not know yet. For example, do you know why the moon orbits the Earth? Do you know a widely accepted scientific hypothesis of how and when the moon formed? Let's find out more! | |
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Answer(s):
[1]
[1] Maria or lowlands: Broad, flat dark areas called maria are low places covered with rocky soil.
Rilles: Stretching across the maria are long valleys called rilles. They are cracks in the moon's surface.
Highlands: The highlands are rocky areas whose mountains sometimes rise as high as some mountains on Earth.
Craters: Both large and small craters cover much of the moon's surface.
Soil: The moon's soil is mostly dark gray to brownish gray. It is made up of tiny pieces of rock, dust, bits of glass, and some large chunks of rock.
[2] Meteoroids, asteroids, and comets have smashed into the moon's surface and left millions of craters.
Rilles: Stretching across the maria are long valleys called rilles. They are cracks in the moon's surface.
Highlands: The highlands are rocky areas whose mountains sometimes rise as high as some mountains on Earth.
Craters: Both large and small craters cover much of the moon's surface.
Soil: The moon's soil is mostly dark gray to brownish gray. It is made up of tiny pieces of rock, dust, bits of glass, and some large chunks of rock.
[2] Meteoroids, asteroids, and comets have smashed into the moon's surface and left millions of craters.
| You know that the moon orbits the Earth. But did you know that the force that keeps the moon in orbit around the Earth is the same force that keeps the Earth in orbit around the sun? As Isaac Newton showed, that force is gravity. That same gravity also keeps you stuck firmly to the Earth. Does the moon have gravity? Sure it does. But the effect of gravity is only about one-sixth as much on the surface of the moon as it is on the surface of the Earth. That is why astronauts on the moon can take giant leaps, even while wearing massive, bulky space suits. They're lighter there. Other than the moon, do you know of anything that orbits the Earth? There are many artificial satellites orbiting the Earth. A satellite is any object that revolves around a larger object. Some satellites orbiting the Earth let us make phone calls, watch television shows from around the world, and take pictures of the Earth's surface to track weather patterns. These satellites are man-made. But the Earth has only one major natural satellite--the moon. Why do you think we call the moon a natural satellite? [3] | |
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Answer(s):
[1]
[3] The moon is a satellite because it is an object that orbits a larger object--the Earth. The moon is a natural satellite because it was not made by humans.
[2]
Earth's gravity sometimes captures meteoroids, asteroids, and 'space junk,' such as parts of old spacecraft and space probes. Some of these objects fall towards Earth as meteors, but some of them orbit the Earth as natural and artificial satellites.
| How did the moon become a natural satellite of Earth? Over the years, scientists have proposed several ideas about how the moon formed. But until recently they did not have enough information to choose the most likely possibility. An idea supported by new information from moon rocks is one that most scientists now agree is closer to the answer than any other. | |
| To understand how the moon may have formed, we need to take a step back in time--a very long step. Scientists think our solar system began forming about 5 billion years ago. The solar system is the sun and all the planets orbiting it. According to scientists, the solar system began as a huge, swirling cloud of gas and dust. As the cloud swirled, it flattened out like a big dinner plate. Most of the spinning matter collected in the center, drawn by gravity, and formed the sun. Smaller clumps formed planets at different places in the spinning plate of gas and dust. | |
| As the planets collected more matter and grew larger, other slightly smaller clumps of matter were also swirling around in the cloud. According to the large-impact hypothesis accepted by most scientists, one of these smaller clumps smashed into the Earth. The impact would have blown off part of the Earth and knocked the pieces into space. According to this view, the Earth's gravity held on to some of the pieces that scattered into space. These pieces began orbiting the Earth, and they eventually came together to form the moon. The energy of the original clump hitting the Earth was great enough to melt much of the clump, so that it became part of the Earth's mostly iron-nickel center, or core. | |
| Physical evidence seems to support this hypothesis. For example, when astronauts landed on the moon they brought back rocks. As scientists studied these rocks they made an important discovery. They found that moon rocks are made up of the same kinds of minerals that make up the two upper layers of the Earth--the crust and the mantle. This rock evidence suggests that the moon formed from pieces of the Earth. As scientists keep gathering information they will be able to tell more about how the moon formed. New evidence may support this large-impact hypothesis and add more detail, or show how it can be improved. | |
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SAFETY: Complete this activity in a large, open area. Caution your student to be careful when swinging the ball over her head.
| Around and Around You have learned that a force called gravity acts upon the moon to keep it in Earth's orbit. Try a quick activity to see for yourself how this force works. Print the Around and Around activity sheet if you have not done so already. Follow the instructions in your student guide to complete this activity |
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Click "Print Lesson" button to use your browser print Student Name: Alethea
Date Printed: Jan 11, 2015
Science 3
Unit 10: Sun, Earth, and Moon
Lesson 7: Sun, Earth and Moon: Unit Review and Assessment
Duration: Approx. 60 min.
There are one or more assessments in this lesson. Offline assessments and answer keys can be printed from the materials lists. Online assessments must be printed from the assessment itself within the lesson.
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For the Adult
*Sunshine Makes the Seasons by Franklyn M. Branley
*pencil
*The Moon Seems to Change by Franklyn M. Branley
*paper, 8 1/2" x 11"
*pencils, colored 12
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| You have learned so much about the Earth, moon and sun! Review what you have learned as you prepare to take the unit assessment. | | |||
| Lesson Overview
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| Explore the Sun, Earth, and Moon Take notes as you review what you have learned about the sun, Earth and moon. When you are finished, you will be the expert and give a presentation to your family and friends. Print the Exploring the Sun, Earth, and Moon Guide activity sheet if you have not done so already and click the arrow to complete this activity. |
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| You have learned some important things about the sun, Earth, and moon. Now it's time to showcase your wealth of knowledge to your friends and family. You are the expert on what you have learned so create and plan your very own report about the sun, Earth, and moon. After you have finished the report, invite your family and friends to your presentation. They will be amazed at your work. Now is your chance to shine like a star and demonstrate your expertise. Think carefully about how you want to present your report and have some fun while you plan. Don't forget to use the Explores in this unit to help you. First, think of a fun and creative title for the report. | |
| When you plan something, such as a report, you organize things that you think are important. As the expert you will plan and write in your Science Notebook everything you remember about the sun, Earth, and moon. Let's begin by writing down what you know about the rotation and revolution of the Earth. In your notebook write the first heading, Earth and Sun. Watch the movement of the Earth onscreen to help you remember what you've learned. If you need help identifying important points about the rotation and revolution of the Earth, use the Explore in the lesson titled Earth and Sun. | |
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Answer(s):
[1]
The Earth travels at about 107,275 kilometers per hour (about 30km per second) to make one complete revolution around the sun in one year. It takes close to 365.25 days for the Earth to revolve once.
[2]
The distance between the Earth and sun is about 150 million kilometers (93 million miles). If you could travel to the sun at the speed with which a car typically moves on a highway - say, 88 kilometers per hour (55mph) - and didn't stop along the way, it would take you 193 years to get to the sun.
| The next step is to explain seasons. Write the second heading: The Seasons. When the Northern Hemisphere (e.g. the United States, Canada, and Mexico) tilts toward the sun, it is summer there. The sun shines more directly, providing more intense energy. Also, the time the sun shines each day is longer than the time of darkness at night. | |
| Six months later, when the Earth is on the opposite side of the sun, the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the sun. Does that mean sunshine would be more direct or less? What about the length of time the sun shines each day? These results make the temperature lower during winter. Using the Explore in the lesson titled The Seasons or the book Sunshine Makes the Seasons, describe this in your notebook. | |
| The next fun topic in your report is moon phases. Go ahead and use this as the next heading of your report. Do you recall learning about the moon and its orbit around the Earth? How long does it take the moon to revolve around the Earth? How long does it take the moon to rotate completely around on its own axis? Compare the moon’s motion to the Earth’s motion. As you write these ideas in your notebook, don’t forget to explain why we always see the same side of the moon. | |
| What else about the orbits of the Earth and moon can you include in your project? Here’s a hint: does the moon produce its own light? Great! You’ve gathered super information as an expert to present. But there are a still a few more cool topics you’ll want to mention about the moon. | |
| Now draw the order of the moon phases. Remember that the moon's phases happen as a result of the changing positions of the Earth, moon, and sun. The moon's phases also occur in a repeating pattern. That's because the motion of the moon around the Earth and the Earth around the sun occur in a repeating pattern. Use the book The Moon Seems to Change from the lesson Phases of the Moon to help you draw the phases. Start your drawing with the new moon. Don't forget to include the gibbous moon. The gibbous moon is illustrated in some places, but not discussed, in the book. You learned about it in the lesson, though. Look at the illustration of the lunar and solar eclipses onscreen. In your notebook, write the next heading as Eclipses and describe how each type of eclipse occurs. | |
| As an expert, you'll want to explain in your report that the moon appears to have dark and light patches. In your notebook write the heading Lunar Landscape, name the dark patches and describe them.[1] Remember that these patches are thought to have formed billions of years ago as lava poured out of the moon’s interior. What are the long, narrow cracks or valleys on the maria called?[2] The moon's most visible feature is its craters. They are of all sizes. They form when meteoroids, asteroids, and comets strike the surface. The moon's soil is made up big chunks of rock, tiny pieces of rock, dust, and bits of glass. It formed when objects broke up as they hit the moon, making craters. How is that process different from the way soil forms on Earth? [3] How are the conditions on the moon different from those on Earth? [4] | |
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Answer(s):
[1]
[1] Dark patches on the moon's surface are called maria. Maria are low areas covered with rocky soil. These lowlands are broad and flat similar to plains here on Earth.
[2] rilles
[3] Soil forms on Earth when rocks break down into tiny pieces of sand and clay, due to water and wind, which are not on the moon. Earth soil also contains decayed organisms that were living, which also do not occur on the moon.
[4] The moon has no weather that depends on an atmosphere. It has no clouds, no rain, and no wind. Rocks break down much more slowly on the moon than they do on Earth, so craters on the moon can last for millions of years. Many of the craters and rocks have not changed for much of the moon’s history. The moon has no liquid water and no life.
[2] rilles
[3] Soil forms on Earth when rocks break down into tiny pieces of sand and clay, due to water and wind, which are not on the moon. Earth soil also contains decayed organisms that were living, which also do not occur on the moon.
[4] The moon has no weather that depends on an atmosphere. It has no clouds, no rain, and no wind. Rocks break down much more slowly on the moon than they do on Earth, so craters on the moon can last for millions of years. Many of the craters and rocks have not changed for much of the moon’s history. The moon has no liquid water and no life.
| Wow! You’ve completed your project on the sun, Earth, and moon. Now you’re ready to present it to friends and family. | |
Unit Assessment: Sun, Earth, and Moon
Print this offline assessment and answer key using the links below. You will need to enter your student's results online later.
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