Lunar Phases Cloze Activity
Use these words to complete the sentences.
One of the most obvious and Regular✓ things we can see about the Moon is the way it appears to change shape in the sky almost every night. (Actually you can often spot the Moon✓ in the day-time, it’s just not as easy to see.) We know the Moon is a giant sphere made of rock, roughly 384 thousand✓ kilometres away. So how can it change shape?
The Moon doesn't really change shape. Just like Earth✓, half of the Moon is always in the sunlight, half is in the shade✓. What we are seeing is more or less of the Moon’s ‘face’ directed towards the Sun. As the Moon orbits✓, or circles the Earth we get to see if from different angles. Sometimes we see the full circle of the Moon, other times a lo-sided rugby ball shape or a crescent. Every cycle it seems to disappear✓ altogether. To help us describe this effect, we use some old-fashioned words; 
- ‘Waxing’ - means getting bigger✓, or coming in.
- ‘Waning’ - means getting smaller, or going tout.
- ‘Gibbous’ - is like a lop-sided rugby ball shape.
- ‘Crescent’ - is the thin sliver shaper with pointy ends.
As shown in the diagram, the Moon orbits the Earth in an anticlockwise✓ direction. Earth orbit takes a little less than a month (the word ‘month’ is from the old English word ‘mōnath’ which means to measure✓ time with the moon). A new moon means it is facing away from us and it is fully in shade from our perspective✓ . A full moon shows the full reflection of the Sun.
First and last quarters allow you to see half of the Moon (confusingly, but it is 1⁄4 the way around). ‘Waxing gibbous’ means that it’s on its way to becoming✓ a full moon.
A ‘waning crescent’ moon tells you that a new moon is about to happen. If you can see the
right hand side of the Moon it is waxing – getting bigger. If you can see the left hand side,
it’ll be waning.
Lunar Phases - Comprehension: (you are allowed to re-read the text)
1. Roughly, how far away is the Moon? It is roughly around 300,000-400,000 km away from Earth.✓
2. Does the Moon shine with its own light? Yes / No Why, or why not:
The Moon does not shine with its own light because it just reflects the light from the sun.✓
3. Approximately how long does it take for the Moon to circle the Earth?
It takes approximately 30 days.✓
4. If you can’t see the Moon on a clear night, what could be happening?
I think what would be happening is that part of the moon is in the shade and the rest is in the sunlight.✓
5. The Moon changes shape because it’s actually an inflatable beach ball : True / False
It is false because the Moon is a big circle rock.✓
6. Create a definition for the word ‘gibbous’
When the Moon is a different shape and not quite a circle. So the Moon is gibbous.✓
7. Grammar: Waxing and waning are words we sometimes use to talk about the tides on Earth as well. What would be happening if the tide was ‘waning’?
What would be happening is that the tide would be getting smaller or it is going tout.✓
8. Why is that when you can see half of the Moon we call it a quarter?
I think when the Moon is half, it is called a quarter because the Moon is only ¼ around and you can’t see the other side of its face.✓
9. What would you expect to be brighter a gibbous or a crescent moon?
I think that a gibbous is brighter than a crescent moon because it is bigger and the crescent moon is thin.✓
10.Higher level thinking: Why don’t we use the lunar phases to measure time on our
calendar any longer? I think we don’t use lunar phases anymore is because we have more greater technology which is more modern.✓
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Extra for experts: The Dreamworks (movie company) logo features the Moon with a
boy fishing off of it. From what you’ve learned; figure out where in the
lunar phase it would be: I think it would be gibbous because it is most likely close to being in a shape as a rugby ball.
Bonus facts: We see the same side of the Moon all the time (an effect called ‘tidally locked’). The part we don’t see is called ‘the dark side of the Moon’, even though it gets the same sunlight as the rest of the satellite. The first time humans saw the other side was in 1959 when the Russian probe Luna took some grainy photographs.
Bonsoir Toma!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous opening to your blog post :) Thank you for being so creative!
I wonder what your top lunar facts would be?
Thanks for checking out my blog post! I pretty much love all the facts but my top ones have to be 10 and 2. Number 10 is great because it compares the past and present. Number 2 because it made me understand how the moon has light.
ReplyDeleteMake sure to check out my other blog posts. In the meantime, remember to look at my blog posts every week!
From,
Toma