Phases of the Moon

Students learn that the Moon's phases come from seeing changing portions of its always half lit surface as it orbits Earth, and follow one full 29.5 day cycle with rise and set times.

Grades 5-8About 15 minutes of narrated flight, plus discussion stops7 stops

The full guide, with the 40-minute plan, discussion key points, exit ticket, activities, transcript and PDF, comes with a teacher license. Already licensed? Use Open the full guide.

What students will see and do

Students start at the Sun, then visit the Moon five times to follow the new, crescent, quarter, gibbous and full phases, the waning half of the cycle, and the timing of the month, and finish looking back at Earth. The class pauses at two discussion stops: the Sun, about why half the Moon is always lit, and Earth, about the shadow myth.

Learning objectives

• Explain that the Sun always lights half the Moon and that phases depend on how much of that half faces Earth.
• Sequence the eight named phases in order and identify each as waxing or waning.
• Predict the approximate rising and setting times of the new, first quarter, full and third quarter Moon.
• Distinguish the 29.5 day cycle of phases from the 27.3 day orbit and explain the difference.

NGSS connections

Stops on this journey

1. Borrowed Light (discussion stop)
2. New Moon and the Growing Crescent
3. First Quarter and Waxing Gibbous
4. Full Moon
5. The Waning Moon
6. Timing the Cycle
7. Looking Back at Earth (discussion stop)

Vocabulary

• phase
• new moon
• crescent
• first quarter
• gibbous
• full moon
• waxing
• waning