MOON UNIT Lesson one – How the moon was formed and it’s orbit

Standard:  Earth and Space Science. Students will gain an understanding of Earth and Space Science through the study of earth materials, celestial movement, and weather. Objective  Observe, describe, and record patterns in the appearance and apparent motion of the moon in the night sky.  Observe and describe the number, arrangement and color/brightness of stars in the night sky.

Vocabulary  moon: the large round object that circles the Earth and that shines at night by reflecting light from the sun  Earth: the planet we live on  myth: a story that was told in an ancient culture to explain a practice, belief, or natural occurrence  theory: an idea or set of ideas that is intended to explain facts or events  orbit: the path an object in space follows as it rotates around another object

K now W ant to know L earned  In your moon book write down what you know about the moon.  Next, write some things you would like to know about the moon  After each lesson of the moon unit, write down one fact or interesting thing you learned about the moon.

What Objects do you see at night?  Possible objects:  stars  moon  a thing that looks like a banana. Hint, it’s the moon!  falling stars  planes  lights shinning  These are all wonderful observations. Today we will be learning about the moon’s orbit.

Moon Myths  Long, long ago people would look at the sky and wonder about the sun and moon. They made up stories that explained how the moon was made or how it was placed high in the sky.  Let’s listen to a myth from Africa, explaining how the moon and sun got high in the sky.  U2oyqCg5o U2oyqCg5o

Moon Myths  There are many myths about why the moon is the the sky and how it was formed (made). Scientists have their theories too. Here are some of them:  The moon is a sister world that formed in orbit around Earth as the Earth formed.  The moon formed somewhere else in the solar system then was captured into orbit around Earth.  Early Earth spun so fast that it spun off the moon.

Moon  Most scientists believe that the moon and Earth formed at about the same time, back when our whole solar system was formed. Earth was forming from many chunks of rock and icy material. Possibly a big chunk hit the new Earth and knocked loose a big piece, which became the moon.

Moon Orbit  As we know from previous lessons. The earth orbits the sun and the moon orbits the earth. The moons orbit is not perfectly round it’s elliptical.  Visit this site to learn how the sun, earth, and moon orbit. eractives/science/earthandbeyond/soonmooneart h/ eractives/science/earthandbeyond/soonmooneart h/  Visit this site to hear a song about the moons’ orbit  RksA RksA

Moon Check for Understanding  What are some objects found in the sky?  What is the moon?  How do scientist believe the moon was formed?  Explain how the moon orbits

Moon Activity 1(optional)  Follow the directions on the sheet to make the orbit model. Then write about how the moon orbits the earth.  Materials: scissors 3 brads crayons, markers, or colored pencils

Directions

Moon Activity 2 (optional writes)  Write your own myth story on how the moon was made and put in the sky.  Stories must have a beginning, middle, and end  When you’re done draw a picture of your story

Other Moon Myth Stories (optional)  The Night the Moon Fell-  RyY RyY

resources  Lunar Cycle, Why The Moon Change Shapes, 8 Phases Of The Moon, Learning Videos For Children 