1. HowBigandHowFar
ImportantConcepts
• TheSunismuchlargerthantheMoonandmuchfartherawayfromEarththan
theMoonis.
• TheMoonismuchclosertotheEarth.
•
ThedifferentdistancestotheSunandMooncausethemtoappeartobesimilar
insizewhenviewedonEarth.The sun and moon appear the same size
in Earth’s sky because the sun’s diameter is about 400 times greater
– but the sun is also about 400 times farther away.
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TheSunappearstobemuchlargerthantheotherstarsbecauseitismuchcloser
totheEarth.
TheMoonislessthanhalfthesizeoftheEarth.
2. HowDoestheEarthMove?
• TheEarthrevolvesaroundtheSuninanorbitwiththeSuninthecenter.
•
TheEarthrotatesonceevery24hours.ThisspinningorrotatingoftheEarth
causesdayandnightonEarth.SunlightshiningontheEarthcausesdayandthe
sideofEarththatisnotlitbythesunhasnight.
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•
TheEarthspinningisalsoresponsiblefortheSunappearingtoseteverydayand
theapparentmovementoftheSunacrossthesky.TheEarth’sspinningisthe
causeforthepositionoftheSunintheskyandatnoontheSunisoverhead.
SunlightshiningontheEarthcausesdayandthesideofEarththatisnotlitby
thesunhasnight.
3. MoonPhasesandEclipses
• Shadowsarecreatedwhenlightisblocked.
• Shadowsarefoundinthreeareas:
i. Onthebackoftheobjectblockingthelight.
ii. Wherevertheshadowlands
iii. Betweenthetwoobjects.
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•
•
TheSunisresponsibleforlightingtheMoon.
TheMoonseemstochangeshapebecauseweseethesunlitpartoftheMoon
fromdifferentdirections.
ThedarkareasoftheMoonarecreatedbytheMoon’sshadow.
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TheMoon’sphasesoccurinaregularpatternthatrepeatsaboutevery28days.
TheMoonphasesoccurinthefollowingpattern:
i. Newmoon
ii. Waxingcrescent
iii. Firstquarter
iv. WaxingGibbous
v. FullMoon
vi. WaningGibbous
vii. ThirdQuarter/LastQuarter
viii. Waningcrescent
•
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AneclipseoftheSunoccurswhentheMoongoesbetweentheSunandEarth.
AneclipseoftheMoonoccurswhentheEarthisbetweentheSunandtheMoon
andEarthcastsitsshadowontheMoon.
4. EffectsoftheSeason
• Thereare4seasons:Spring,Summer,FallandWinter
• Eachseasonhasdistinctcharacteristicsthatcanbeorganizedintothreeareas:
i. Biological(plantchanges,animalchanges)
ii. Meteorlogical(changesinweather)
iii. Sociological(holidaysorcelebrationsatdifferenttimesoftheyear,things
wedoatdifferenttimesoftheyear)