Activities inspired by children’s literature
Moon Phases and Models
By Karen Ansberry and Emily Morgan
From the time they are very young, children are naturally curious about the Moon. They may wonder about
the different shapes of the Moon when they look up at
the night sky. In this month’s primary lesson, students
discover through direct observations and reading that
the Moon’s shape follows a pattern. In the upperelementary lesson, students explore the reason for this
pattern using a model.
This Month’s Trade Books
Phases of the Moon
By Gillia M. Olson.
Capstone Press. 2007.
ISBN 0736896171.
Grades K–4
Simple text and photographs introduce Moon
phases, including why they
occur and what they are called.
The Moon Book
By Gail Gibbons.
Holiday House. 1997.
ISBN 0823413640.
Grades K–4
The Moon Book identifies the
Moon as our only natural satellite, describes its movement and
phases, and discusses how we
have observed and explored it over the years.
Curricular Connections
According to the National Science Education Standards,
the focus of space science in the early years should be
on the idea that objects in the sky have observable patterns of movement. By observing the day and night sky
regularly, early elementary students can learn to identify
20 Science and Children
sequences of changes and look for patterns in these
changes. Specifically, when it comes to the Moon’s phases, students should notice that “the observable shape of
the Moon changes from day to day in a cycle that lasts
about a month” (NRC 1996, p. 134). This month’s lesson
for grades K–3 students is limited to making observations, developing descriptions, and finding patterns;
whereas grades 4–6 students use a model to explore the
concept that Moon phases are caused by the Moon’s
orbit around Earth.
Karen Ansberry (karen@pictureperfectscience.
com) is a science curriculum leader at Mason City
Schools in Mason, Ohio. Emily Morgan (emily@
pictureperfectscience.com) is the science leader for the
High AIMS Math and Science Consortium in Cincinnati,
Ohio. They are the authors of Picture-Perfect Science
Lessons: Using Children’s Books to Guide Inquiry,
Grades 3–6; and More Picture-Perfect Science
Lessons: Using Children’s Books to Guide Inquiry,
Grades K–4, both available from NSTA Press.
For Grades K–3: Moon Monitors
Engage: Show students the photographs of the Moon
from Phases of the Moon without reading the text. Ask
them what they notice or wonder about the Moon. Prepare a large OWL (Observations/Wonderings/Learnings) chart and keep it posted prominently in the classroom for the duration of the unit. First model your own
wonderings about the Moon by writing the following
questions on the OWL chart under the “W” (Wonderings) section: Does the Moon really change shape? Where
does the Moon’s light come from? Does the Moon’s shape
follow a pattern? How long does it take for the Moon to go
through its changes? Then, invite students to write their
own questions about the Moon on large sticky notes to
post in the wonderings section of the OWL chart.
Explore: Ask students how they might find the answers
to some of their questions. Discuss that scientists find answers by making careful observations, doing experiments
over and over, communicating with other scientists, etc.
Tell students that they can find out more about the Moon
by observing it every evening for a month. Give each student a copy of “My Moon Journal” (see NSTA Connection). Ask them to look at the Moon each night and draw
what it looks like (if it can be seen). In the classroom, keep
a daily bulletin board of the Moon phases for a month.
Ideally, students should make their own observations of
the Moon for at least a month, but Moon calendars can
also be downloaded at www.stardate.org.
Note: A common misconception about the Moon is that
the Moon gets larger and smaller. Empty circles on
the “Moon Journal” student page are provided so that
students can darken the areas of the Moon that are not
lighted. This method of recording Moon phases takes into
account that the entire Moon is present, even if some of
its surface cannot be seen.
Explain: Discuss students’ observations throughout
the month using some of the following questions: Was
the Moon the same shape each time you saw it? (No.)
Did you see the Moon every time you looked for it? (No.)
Was the Moon in the same place in the sky each time you
saw it? (No.) On a cloudy night, how can you tell if the
Moon is still there? (You can see moonlight behind the
clouds.) Can we ever see the Moon in the daytime? (Yes.)
What did the Moon look like on the first night of your
journal? On the last night? (Students should notice that
the Moon’s shape is the same on the first night and the
last night of the journal.) When you look at your journal,
do you see any patterns? (Students may notice a pattern
of the Moon changing shape.) During this discussion,
students should be able to explain their observations
and compare them to the observations of others.
Elaborate: Revisit Phases of the Moon, and explain that
this nonfiction book might help them make more sense
of their Moon observations. Ask students to listen for
any answers to the “wonderings” on the OWL chart as
you read the book aloud. After reading, write the answers
in the “L” column of the OWL chart and discuss.
Evaluate: Ask, “How does the pattern of the phases you
observed in your Moon journal compare to the pattern
of the phases in the book?” (The phases recorded over
one month in our journals are in the same order as the
phases we saw in the book.) Students should notice that
the phases of the Moon occur in a certain order and
have names. Ask students to find one example of each
phase on their journal and write its name beneath the
picture (full, gibbous, quarter, crescent, new).
NSTA Connection
Download Moon Journals and Surveys at
www.nsta.org/SC0809.
Connecting to the Standards
This article relates to the following National Science
Education Standards (NRC 1996).
Content Standards
Standard A: Science as Inquiriy
• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry (K–8)
Standard D: Earth and Space Science
• Objects in the sky (K–4)
• Earth in the solar system (5–8)
National Research Council (NRC). 1996. National
Science Education Standards. Washington, DC:
National Academy Press.
September 2008 21
For Grades 4–6: Moon Modeling
Engage: Have students complete “The Moon Survey” student page (see NSTA Connection, p. 21) and
discuss the results of their surveys before they begin
the next activity. Ask the following questions as you
discuss the surveys: What are some of the answers
you received? Are there any answers that you think are
wrong? Why? What do you think is the correct answer
to the question on the survey?
Explore: Now that students have heard a lot of different ideas people have about why the Moon looks
different from night to night, tell them that they can
explore this question using a model. You’ll need a lamp
and one foam ball for each student.
Darken the room—the darker, the better. Give each student a foam ball stuck on the end of a pencil. Explain that
the foam ball is a model of the Moon, the lamp is a model of
the Sun, and their heads represent Earth. Before the guided
activity below, give students time to explore the model and
test different ideas about what causes Moon phases.
Next, guide students through the following activity
to model how the Moon changes shape:
• With their faces toward the lamp, students hold the
balls slightly above their heads so that they have to
look up a little to see them. In this position, students
cannot see the lighted side of the ball. Tell them that
this is called a New Moon.
• Tell students to move the arm holding the ball
slightly to the left while still looking at the ball and
holding it a little above their heads. Tell them that
when we see this sliver of the lighted side of the
Moon, we call it a crescent Moon.
Ask, “Where does the Moon’s light come from?”
(The light is coming from the Sun and is reflected off
the Moon.) Some people think that the Moon phases are
caused by the Earth’s shadow. How does this model provide evidence that this idea is not correct or supported?”
(The shadow of my head, which represents the Earth, is
not on the Moon in this position. It is behind me.)
Instruct the students to keep turning to the left and
soon they will see more of the lighted half of the ball.
Tell them that this is called a quarter Moon.
• Have them turn a little more and almost all of the
22 Science and Children
ball will be lit. Tell them that this is called a gibbous
Moon.
• Students can keep turning until they see all the
lighted half of the ball. Tell them that this is called
a full Moon.
• As students continue to turn in the same direction,
they will see less and less of the lighted part of the
ball. First they will see a gibbous Moon, then a quarter Moon, then a thin crescent Moon, and finally
they will be back to the new Moon.
• Tell students that this orbit the Moon takes around
the Earth is completed in about a month.
Explain: Have students work with a partner to repeat
the Moon modeling activity and explain to each other
the reason we see each phase of the Moon from Earth.
Tell students that scientists often use their observations
in combination with models to develop explanations
of scientific events. Ask, “What explanations can we
develop from our month of Moon observations and
the Moon modeling activity we just did?” (The Moon
phases occur in a regular pattern. The orbit of the Moon
around the Earth causes the phases.)
Elaborate: Tell students that in science it is important
to check what you have learned through observations
and models with what is known in the scientific world.
Ask students to compare their ideas and explanations
about the Moon phases to the information presented
in The Moon Book. Read the book aloud, stopping every so often to allow for discussion as you read. After
reading the section on eclipses, challenge students to
use the foam ball and lamp model to demonstrate lunar
and solar eclipses. Then ask, “What Moon phase does
it need to be in order for a lunar eclipse to occur?” (full
Moon) “What Moon phase does it need to be in order
for a solar eclipse to occur?” (new Moon)
Evaluate: Have students think back to the Moon modeling activity and then draw and label two diagrams: Earth,
Moon, and Sun with the Moon in the new Moon phase
and another with the Moon in the full Moon phase. Using their diagrams, have students answer the question,
“Why does the Moon seem to change shape?”