[nobe-l] Phases of the moon lesson ideas

[Princess]

Here you go.  Not a put together lesson plan, but a rough draft. Needed items are not too expensive when purchased with coupons, donated, or try Oriental Trader. 


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Blessings, 
Janet


Teaching about the phases of the moon. 
 
In teaching the topic the lesson plan and structure mustassume, for the sake of the younger participants and those with less academicbackground, that there is not a link between the students’ understanding of howa three dimensional object is represented by a two dimensional representation. 
 
Start out with some vocabulary but do this in a fun mannerduring part 1 of the lesson/activity schedule. 
 
Materials 
1. A small collection of 3-d shapes. APH has a wooden setbut you can also find them elsewhere. The APH set is wooden, heavy and if theyget tossed around someone may get hurt. 
Note – each 3-d shape must be a “regular”shape. That is, each side must be the same shape. Therefore, for example, youmay have a cube but NOT a rectangular cube. 
2. A small collection of 2-d shapes that feature the shapeof one side of each of the 3-d shapes.  
3. Styrofoam balls, one for each participant  
styrofoam balls cut in half, (one-half ball for eachparticipant)
4. Wikki Stix 
5. Piece of braille paper larger than the flat side of thehalf styrofoam ball. 
6. Hoola-hoop or something similar
7. Hair dryer or small fan, but I prefer hair dryer as it will put out warm air to represent the sun which if hot. (small but able to be positioned a thehead levels of the students/participants. 
 
Part 1 (15-20 minutes) 
Distribute 3-d objects and askeveryone to name them. These may include the following: 
sphere 
3-sided pyramid (obviousle it has four faces but each faceis a similar triangle)
cube
Notice that we are not using all ofthe true mathematical terms. You may include these by saying something fun suchas, “The one that Paula is holding is a 3-sided pyramid but your math teacherwill make you call it a regular triangular pyramid, but since there isn’t amath teacher here…what do we want to call it?!” 
 
Go through this for all of the 3-d shapes and have the groupbrainstorm about the kinds of things that have the various shapes.  
 
Part 2 (15-20 minutes) 
Now pass out 2-d representations of a cube, triangle, andsphere.  
 
Here you should ensure that there are enough cubes andspheres and their respective 2-d representations for each participant. Havingadditional helpers may be needed or participants may be encouraged to work inpairs.  
 
Activity: Have the student hold the cube in front oftheir face. Tell them they are now “face-to-face” with the cube.  Now tell them to touch the face/side of thecube that is facing them. What shape is it. Yes, we call it a square.  A square is flat and it can be used torepresent a cube. 
       Added fun 1. –you may put a raised line smiley face on one side of each cube to make it morefun and more understandable that each side of an object is called a face. 
       Added fun 2 –you could have the participants put faces on the cube (and/or later thecircle). Have yarn, wikki stix, craft eyes, maybe little hats, etc for thisactivity. 
       Note – the Addedfun portions are important.  Choose oneor come up with your own. It is at this point that you will bring up The Man inthe Moon. Some participants will have some prior knowledge of this. 
 
Part 3 – Break Time 
1. You could join the Apollo 11 group for play time in abounce house to simulate what it is like to walk on the moon. Tell studentsthat the original bounce houses (made in the 1960’s were actually called moonwalks. 
2. Read a story or watch a descriptive video about the manin the moon. 
 
Part 4 (20-30 minutes) 
Here is the meat of the lesson/activity. 
       Pass out the styrofoamspheres and repeat the Part 2 done with cubes and squares. It is vital thatstudents hold the spheres at their head level or put them on a table and lookdirectly down at them. 
       Now have thestudents set the half sphere (flat side down) on to the braille paper. Haveeveryone run their hand/fingers AROUND the half sphere. What shape is it? ACIRCLE!  
       AdditionalEmphasis: In advance, affix two halves of the styrofoam circles to alternatesides of a piece of 100 lb weight braille paper (to make sturdy). This may helpsome gain greater understanding that when you see a sphere you onlyh really seea part of it and we call it a FACE (but we know that faces of spheres are notthis simple but let’s leave that to their future geometry teachers). 
       AdditionalActivity: You may have students lay out wikki stix around the edge of the halfstyrofoam sphere and then life it. Voila! A circle.  
 
Part 5 (probably 1 hour) 
The Phases. 
       Part 1: Havestudents get their moon faces. Give each student to be the Earth by standing inthe middle of the hoola-hoop. Remind students that the Earth turns around andthe moon travels around the Earth on a set path. The hoola-hoop that surroundsthem is the path of the moon.  Now haveseveral other students stand outside the hoola-hoop holding their moon faces infront of their faces. Tell the Earth to turn around and as they do, have themfeel the face of each of the surrounding moons. Emphasize that when the moon travels around the Earth it does NOT turnlike the Earth turns. 
       Part 2: Askstudents how long it takes for the moon to make its trip around the Earth(hoola-hoop)? 
       Answer: 27 and1/3 days. 
       Introduce theSun (hair dryer or fan). 
Have a student stand inside the hoola-hoop and another, justone, be the moon face. Have an adult supervisor “shoot” the air stream at themoon. Tell the moon to walk around the Earth keeping their face toward the Earth.Observe – doesn’t the hot air hit your face in different places as you moveeven though the sun isn’t moving? This is the phases of the moon. The sunlight,just like the hot hairdryer air doesn’t always hit the face of the moon thesame way.  In fact, there is even a timethat it is only hitting the back of the moon so none of the face feels the hotair! Voila! Phases of the Moon!!! 
       Have differentparticipants try out different roles. Try your best to have each be the moon.Discuss the phases: 
A. No hot air on face (New moon) – the face of the mooncannot be seen from Earth. 
B. Just a little on one side (Waxing Crescent) 
C. Half of one side of the face (First Quarter moon) – Explainthat we do not call it a half moon because we only see ½ of the moon so if ½ ofthe face feels the heat of the hair dryer that represents sunlight hitting themoon, then it is really only hitting ¼ or one-quarter of the overall moon’ssurface. This may be good for some, but not all (depending on age, etc.) 
D. Almost all of the face (Waxing Gibbous) 
E. Full Face (Full Moon) 
F. Waning Gibbous (the opposite side of the face is notfeeling the heat). 
G. Half of one side of the face (Last Quarter moon) – note thatthis is on the other side from the First Quarter moon. 
H. Just a little on one side (Waning Crescent) – note thatthis is on the other side form the Waxing Crescent. 
 
Part 6 – Let’s make (or eat) our moon phase meal! 
Serving suggestions 
Foods with texture can help to reinforce the pitted,irregular surface of the moon.  Also,cheese can be used simply to uplift the old story of the moon being made ofcheese. 
 
Simple (messy) snack idea 
Water melon. Ge enough round water melons to slice wholecircular pieces for the students and staff. Tell them they are each getting a full moon. Now challenge them to eatout just enough to have a crescent missing, then a quarter, then half and the ALLGONE! Take pictures of the kids as they create their phases of the moon. Thisis very interactive, fun, tactile, and they will remember it. 
  
Lunch idea: 
Pita bread – cut in half for sandwiches. Use a round cookiecutter to cut circular pieces of lunch meat and cheese (or buy provolone).These can be the full moon. 
 
Include at other meals 
Crescent rolls – note thatare also bumpy just like the surface of the moon. Wow, how did they get theirname?! 
Students could fill the crescent rolls with crumbled cheese.Recall the moon is sometimes said to be like cheese. 
 
Meat balls – full moonsserved with star shaped macaroni. 


    AND OF COURSE...wait for it...MOON PIES!!!