We the new term, we have “Google Earthed” from out in the Universe, a little closer to the planet. This science unit will be on Moon Phases and Seasons. As part of studying the moon phases, I will giving the students a month long assignment. Now I know that sounds rough, but seriously, the assignment will be about 3 minutes a night for 28 days (or as many of the 28 days that you can actually see the moon….hopefully the weather cooperates some.)
They will be bringing home a paper that looks like this:
Here’s a digital copy of it, if necessary for anything: Moon Calendar
They’re assignment will be to fill in the circles for how the moon looks each day, leaving the lit parts the color of the paper, and shading the shadowed parts. So, if the moon looks like this:
Then their drawing should look like this:
Notice, I didn’t necessarily worry about making sure the space was all the way shaded in. The important thing is that I can see a clear distinction between the light side and the dark side. On days that you can’t see the moon because it’s cloudy, just make note of that by writing cloudy or overcast.
These will be assigned Tuesday, November 4. I will check them every after that week:
November 12
November 19
November 26
For the first week or so, I will give them a picture I have taken of the moon. After that, they are on their own to get it filled out, checking in with my calendar once a week. Each weekly check-in will be worth 3 points, with the final being worth 28 points. The final will be due Tuesday, December 2, where we will take class time to fill in the back side of the paper.
If you have any questions, please ask. Otherwise, happy moon gazing!