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WHY THE MOON
HAS PHASES
Earth
Moon
The moonseems t o c h a n g e s h a p e from d a y t o d a y a s it goes through phoses.The moon hangs
from newmaon t o full moon a n d back a g a i n every 29% days. The phases a r e caused b y h
moon's orbit around the earth a s the earth a n d moon trove1 around the sun. Half of the mw
Is always In sunlight, butvarying amounts of the lighted side a r e visible from the earth.Arfhe
moon a n d earth move along their orbits, more of the sunlit part is seen until it shines as ofill
m w n . Then less and less of the sunlit part is seen untll the dark new moon returns.
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Moon's Orbit
Around the Earth
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SKY WATCH
A man on the moon
A favorite story
about the moon
comes from ancient China, and
tells of a man
named Wan Ho,
who
wanted
badly to go to the
moon. This was
quite impossible
in ancient China,
but
Wan Ho
-wasn't about to
let a little thing
like technology
stand in his Way.
One
night,
while the moon
shone
brightly
A19 overhead, Wan Ho had some assis- '
tants strap him i n t o a chair, and pile
,E explosives beneath him. On his comhis assistants lit the fuses, and
" mand,
ran for their lives.
It wasn't long before a tremendous
roar ripped through the air, and a huge
flash lit the landscape. When the smoke
r cleared, the assistants peeked out from
their hiding places.
In
o
Wan Ho was gone! Not only that, but
% he was never seen nor heard from
6
again.
3
Ancient Chinese legend tells that
Wan Ho did, indeed, make it to the
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a moon that night, and that we can still
see him there whenever the moon is visi3
ble
-sitting in the same chair and calmk
ly reading a book.
This week, when you see the first
quarter moon shining brightly in the
2 southern sky at dusk, look carefully at
2 its illuminated half.
The dark features there are known
'
5
A o w did b a n Ho
what
3-
- DENNIS MAMMANA
to
st to t h e
I
w han
to modern scientists as "mare" or
"seas" - vast plains of solidified
lava.
But they also trace the outline of this
intrepid Chinese explorer.
Now, while the story is purely legend, it was in the abdomen of W a n
Ho that the first astronauts from planet Earth actually set down onto the
lunar surface 36 years ago. That region is known today as the Sea of
Tranquility. As the moon drifts through the
sky from night to night, the line between light and dark - the "terminator" - will change as the angle of
sunlight on the lunar surface changes.
But Wan Ho will always be there, a
constant reminder that people even
thousands of years ago had dreams of
traveling beyond
to the moon, the
planets and the stars.
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A ~ J O U O\I Ihnd
Far
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he moon is 3,476 kilometers in diameter-about one fourth the
diameter of Earth. However, the moon has only one-eightieth as
Carmed
U o d do scienttstr hrnk the mbon
much mass as Earth. Scientists do not know for sure how the moon was
formed. The theory that best fits the evidence is called the collision theory. It says that about 4.5 billion years ago, an object about as large as
Mars hit Euth. Material from the object and from Earth's outer layers
was thrown into orbit around Earth. Eventually, that material formed the
moon.
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Aid Ga\\Iaa m a b
For thousands of years, people could see shapes on the surface of the
moon, but didn't know what caused them. About 400 years ago, Galileo
tekr LO pe
made his own telescope by putting two lenses in a wooden tube. He
looked through his telescope at the moon, and he saw the moon in more
detail than anyone had ever seen before. Features on the moon's surface
include craters, highlands, and maria.
Galileo saw that much of the moon:s surface is covered with round pits
called craters. Galileo also saw dark, flat parts of the moon's surface
which he called maria, the Latin word for "seas." The singular of maria is
mare. Scientists now know that the maria are areas that were flooded by
molten rock billions of years ago. The moon's craters were formed by
impacts by rocks from space.
Galdm's o b * r u a + \ a n ~ o f the
v,
In 1961, hesident John E Kennedy announced that America would 3
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send people to the moon. Surveyor was the first spacecraft to land on the rd
moon. Lunar Orbiters then photographed the moon's surface, so scientists could find a safe spot for humans to land. On July 20, 1969, the
Eagle, the Lunar Module of Apollo 11, carrying Neil Armstrong and Buzz
Alclrin, landed in a flat region called the Sea of Tranquillity. Neil
Armstrong was the first person to.walk on the moon. Later, other Apollo
missions also went to the moon.
What are ' moan craters?
Much of what scientists have learned about the moon came from
detailed study of the moon rocks gathered by astronauts. Almost all
athe rocks were formed from the cooling of molten material. Some rocks
c,
showed they had been broken apart by impacts and then fused back '.c
together. Seismometers placed on the moon by the astronauts detected
extremely weak moonquakes. Another instrument measured the amount
d
of heat flowing from the moon's interior. It showed that the moon has f i
cooled almost completely since it was formed. The far side of the moon e
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is rougher than the near side and has few maria.
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his
moon.
Mars rovers keep on roving
LOS ANGELES - The warranty expired long ago on
NASA's twin robots motoring around Mars.
In two years, they have traveled a total of 7 miles m a
climate where the average temperature is 67 below zero
and where dust devils can reach 100 mph.
These two golf cart-sue vehicles were expected to last
only three months.
'These rovers are living on borrowed time. We're so
past warranty on them," said Steven Squyres of Comell
University, the mission's main researcher. "YOUtry to
push them hard every day because we're living day to
day."
The rover Spirit h d e d on Mars-on Jan. 3, 2004, and
Opportu~tyfollowed on Jan. 24. Since then, they've set
all sorts of records and succeeded in finding evidence
that water once flowed on Mars.
Monday, January 2 , 2006
DAILY NEWS
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Part of the reason for their long survival is pure luck.
Their lives were extended several times by dust devils
that blew away dust that covered their solar panels, restoring their ability to generate electricity.
The rovers haven't been all get-up-and-go. Technical
hiccups have at times hmited their activity. At one point,
Spint had a balky front wheel, but engineers overcame
the problem by driving it in reverse.
Last spring, Opportunity got stuck hub-deep in sand
while trying to crest a foot-highdune and was freed after
weeks of effort by the Earth-bound engineers
Spirit has traveled more than 3 miles and beamed back
70,000 images, ~ncludingpanoramas of the rust-colored
planet's surface. Opportunity has gone more than 4 miles
and sent more than 58,000 images.
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Grade 6 NYC Interim Assessments
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English Language Arts-:+:
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Directions: Read the passage. Then answer numbers 17 through 20.
I
~ a r t h ' sBreath
Twice daily, Earth's oceans seem to suck in a deep, slow breath-low tide. Water pulls away from
the shore, exposing wide stretches of beach. Tiny crabs skitter into holes in the sand. Sea stars loll in
rocky tidal pools created by water left behind by the retreating tide. Lovely, broken shells decorate
the shore.
Then, over the next several hours, those same oceans exhale-bringing high tide. Rising water
creeps up the sand. Sand castles melt into memories. Sunbathers pick up their towels and move
farther away from the ocean to a higher place. Beached boats rock gently and then float with the
rising water.
It is something to depend on, the tide. Day in, day out, year round, through the centuries, ocean
tides continue. That is not to say that they are always the same. The Moon, our Sun, the weather, the
season, all affect tidal movement. Most places on Earth have two high and two low tides each day.
However, some places have more, others have faver, and some see little difference between high and
low.
,
The Moon and Sun are largely responsible for these effects. The Moon's gravity, because it is so
near Earth, pulls the water on Earth's surface. Ocean water nearest the Moon rises toward it, creating
a sort of bulge. This bulge is a high tide. On the opposite side of Earth, another bulge occurs. Here,
the oceans farthest from the Moon are less affected by its gravity and fall away. This bulge is another
high tide. As the mson rotates around Earth, these bulges slide with it. The Sun has a similar but
less obvious effect on tides. The Sun's effect is less obvious because it is much farther away.
Earth
lQ
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Many centuries ago, people believed that Earth was a living, breathing thing. They thought that
the planet's breathin&caused ocean tides. It is an understandable mistake. .
Fishermen and sailors depend on ocean tides. They inspire poets. Whole communities of sea
plants and animals live by tidal rhythms. It is no wonder that ancient people believed they were the
very breath of our planet.
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Grade 6 NYC Interim Assessments
17. According to the passage; ocean tides are
caused by ,,
Earth's movement around the Moon
A
B
the Sun and Moon's gravity
C
sea plants and animals
D
sudden changes in Earth's weather
18. Which one of these is an opinion from
19. Based on the passage, onelcan predict.
that A
B
C
Lovely, broken shells decorate the
shore.
'
these bulges slide with it.
D
I
Ancient people believed they were
the very breath of our planet.
I
the Sun will have a greater effect on
tides in the future
C
fishermen will not rely on' tides as
much as in the past
D
tides will continue'to change in
unexpected ways
20. Read the sentences from the passage.
The Moon, our Sun,the weather,
the season, all affect tidal
movement.
As the moon rotates around Earth,
the Moon will continue tb haw.a
major effect on the ocean'*
B
the
A
English Language Arts
Then, over the next several hours,
those same oceans exhale-high tide.
Sandcastles melt into memories. ,
What is the author describing in these
sentences?
A
Sandcastles melting because of the
sun's heat
B
A person remembering sandcastles
from childhood
C
The ocean washing away sandcastles
D
The tike it takes to build sandcastles
moon
The Phases of the Moon. During a synodic month,
we can see the moon "change" from a slim crescent to a
full circle and back again. These apparent changes in
the moon's shape and size are actually different conditions of lighting called phases. They are caused by
changes in the amount of sunlight reflected by the moon
toward the earth. The moon seems to change shape
because we see different parts of its sunlit surface as it '
orbits the earth. Like the earth, half the moon is always
lighted by the sun's rays except during eclipses. Sometimes the far side of the moon is in full sunlight even
though it is out of view.
When the moon is between the s,un and the earth, ib
sunlit side-the far side-is turned away from the earth.
Astronomers call this darkened phase of the moon a
new moon. In this phase, the side of the moon facing the
earth is dimly lighted by earthshine, which is sunlight
reflected from the earth to the moon.
A day after a new moon, a thin slice of light appears
along the moon's eastern edge. The line between the
sunlit part of the moon's face and its dark part is called
the terminator. Each day, more and more of the moon's
sunlit side is seen as the terminator moves from east to
west. After about seven days, we can see half of a full
moon. This halfcircle shape is half of the moon's side
that is exposed to sunlight and is the part that can be
seen &om the earth. This phase is called thefist quorho
r About seven days later, the moon has moved to a point
where the earth is between the moon and the sun. We
can now see the entire sunlit side. This phase is called
,full moon. A full moon seems bright on a clear night.
But a whole sky of full moons would be only about a
6
- 1th as bright as the sun.
About seven days after full moon, we again see half of
o. a full moon. This phase is called the last quarter, or the
2 third quarter. After another week, the moon returns to
$ a point between the earth and the sun for the new moon
phase. As the moon changes fiom new moon to full
w moon, it is said to be waxing. During the period from
fill moon back to new moon, the moon is waning. When
o the moon appears smaller than half of a full moon, it is
called crescent. When the moon looks larger than half
-d
of a full moon, yet is not a full moon, it is called
The moon rises and sets at different times. In the
new moon phase, it rises above the horizon with the
sun in the east and travels close to the sun across the sky.
With each passing day, the moon rises an average of
about 50 minutes later and drops about 12 degrees
farther behind in relation to the sun. By the end of a
week-at the first quarter phase-the moon rises at
about noon and sets at about midnight. In another
week-at full moon'it
rises ds the sun sets and sets as
the sun rises. At last quarter, it rises at about midnight
and sets at about noon. A week later-back at new
moon-the moon and the sun rise together in the east.
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