The Moon’s Phases
What causes the shape of the moon to change?
Goal:
Goal:
You saw how the moon goes through different phases, but do you know why? It doesn't actually change shape--it just looks that way from Earth! Watch the video to learn more interesting facts about the moon.
It is an exciting day! Kiara and her class are at the planetarium. A planetarium is a place where you can learn all about space!
This is Ms. Comet, and she’s going to teach the students all about the moon today.
This is the moon. It is much smaller than the Earth.
There are lots of things about the moon that are like Earth. They both have landforms like mountains, valleys,
and plains.
Rocks, soil, and dust cover the surface, too.
There are many important differences, though. The moon doesn’t have any air, wind, or water.
When astronauts walk on the moon,
they have to wear spacesuits and carry their air with them.
Do you ever wonder what keeps your feet on the ground?
It’s gravity. Gravity is the pull on objects to the Earth. It’s why we don’t fly away like a balloon.
Gravity is what keeps the moon going around the Earth, too.
It takes about one month for the moon to go all the way around the Earth.
As the moon travels,
we see phases of the moon from the Earth. It looks like a different shape each night, but it’s just the light changing. We can only see the part of the moon that the Sun is shining on.
Sometimes it looks like
there is a no moon at all. This is because the lit-up side of the moon is facing away from Earth!
We learned so much about the moon today from Ms. Comet. The students can’t wait to look at the moon tonight. Will you look at the moon, too?
Question
What part of the moon can we see from Earth?
We can see the part of the moon that is lit up by the Sun.