Astronomy 3-9
The Moon is present in the sky most of the nights. As the moon rotates on its axis as much as it revolves around the Earth, we constantly see the same face lit up. It takes approximately 4 weeks for the Moon to revolve around the Earth.
The Phases of the Moon puzzle can be both used with primary (3-6) and elementary (6-9) learners. The puzzle contains an outer diagram representing the 8 moon phases as we see them from Earth, and an inner diagram representing the moon as it appears from outside the Earth. The phases represented are: full moon, first quarter, new moon, third quarter, waxing gibbous, waxing crescent, waning gibbous, and waning crescent.
All parts of the puzzle are moveable. The puzzle also provides the degrees of the angles formed by the moon and the sun in relationship to us on Earth.
Materials
- The Phases of the Moon puzzle consists of:
- -a wooden puzzle
- -10 wooden labels
- -a control chart.
- The Nomenclature Cards Phases of the Moon consist of:
- a booklet
- -a large chart containing information
- -6 sets of 8 nomenclature cards.
How to use the materials
When working with younger learners (3-6), children can be new to the phases of the moon. The adult can read the nomenclature cards and use the moveable parts of the puzzle as a concrete visual representation. The child can then reconstruct the puzzle using the control chart of the puzzle. Together, the adult and child can label the puzzle using the 10 wooden labels. Later, the child can match the nomenclature cards picture-label to picture to label.
With older learners (6-9), the adult can conduct a preliminary presentation and go over the information on the large chart. If the child has a solid notion of angles and degrees, she can learn about the relationship between the Moon, the Earth, and the Sun from an angular perspective. The same process as above can be used. Later, the child can use the most challenging parts of the nomenclature cards to learn and assess knowledge. For example, the child might begin by reading the booklet for primer. Next the child would match the picture-label cards to the cloze test (blank) cards and as a label as seen below.
