Phases of the Moon

The phases of the moon are examined in second grade. Students keep moon journals to record their observations of the moon each night. Objectives include understanding that our view of the moon changes each day and what that change looks like. There are a variety of ways for the students to demonstrate and utilize their newfound knowledge. The majority of the time, this is done through projects.

Software

Pixie, PowerPoint, or Keynote: The students were given a file that had each phase of the moon on a different page. After opening it in Pixie, the students would click on Share or the button to see all the pages at once. The phases of the moon needed to be dragged into the correct order. Once the students thought it was correct, they would reduce the slide time as far as it would go and hit Show, thus, animating the sequence and allowing it to be checked for errors. Originally, we completed this project in Pixie. However, it could easily be done in any presentation software that has a slide sort view.

Frames: This software is for creating animations. Similar to the project above, the students are creating a movie of the moon phases but, in this case, are not given a template with which to start. Students need to add blank frames to the project and locate images by searching the built-in image library. Students can easily play back their progress as they work and at the end to check their sequencing. The final project is exported as a QuickTime movie.

General Paint Program: Students were given a template to draw their observations of the moon and to write a few sentences describing how the moon looked.

Concept Mapping: Before beginning this unit, students start a concept map to document what they currently know about the moon. The word “Moon” goes in the middle and individual bubbles are created for each fact they know or think they know about the moon. This diagram can be saved and revisited throughout the learning process to add new information or to correct misconceptions. Paid software options for this include Kidspiration and Inspiration. A possible web option is bubbl.us, however, in order to save your work you must have a login and password. Therefore, bubbl.us is a great website for one-time use projects and activities, not those that you want to revisit. A free downloadable web option is IHMC CMAP Tools.

Websites

Lunar Cycle Challenge: Practice filling in the lunar calendar by dragging the missing phases onto the calendar.

Phases of the Moon: Press the play button to watch an animation of the moon circling around the earth. As it circles, the appropriate phase of the moon is shown on the right along with its name.

Moon Phases: An interactive site that allows you to change the hemisphere, moon cycle, and time of day. As these are changed, a simulated image from space and a view from the ground also change.

Moon Flip Book: Print out this document in order to make a paper flipbook of the phases of the moon. Each phase is labeled with its name.

iPad Apps

Deluxe Moon Pro: This app is great for finding out the current moon phase. It can automatically adjust the view of the moon based on your location. ($2.99)

Moon Globe: Upon opening the app, a picture of the moon is shown. Zoom in on or rotate the moon to get a better idea of what its surface looks like. Students can tap on the labeled features for information on how they were named. (Free)