Astronomy for Kids - Week 2 - Phases of the Moon

Week 2: We did a moon phase activity.

Did you know the moon phases are opposite in the southern and northern hemispheres, and that the moon moves 3 cm farther away from the Earth each year? Ocean tides are controlled by the moons travels and Earth's spinning. The Earth rotates counterclockwise one revolution each day, while the moon rotates counterclockwise one revolution around the Earth every 29.5 days.

Since there are more than 29.5 days in one month sometimes there are two full moons in the same month. The second moon is a blue moon. The name blue actually has nothing to do with the color. Colored moons are caused by particles such as pollution, pollen, and volcanic ash in the atmosphere.

As the moon travels around the Earth the portion illuminated by the sun changes. Depending on where you are on the Earth, a crescent moon can look like a letter C, a backwards letter C, a happy or a sad face.

Moon Phase Video

Moon Phase Activity
We wrote the names of the months on twelve pieces of paper and placed them in a circle. One child held a flashlight in the center to represent the sun, while the others controlled the Earth and the moon.

The earth was moved from one month to the next while being continuously rotated. At the same time the moon traveled around the Earth.

We talked about seasons, days, months, years and moon phases while doing this simple activity.