• Make observations while circulating around the room to assess student engagement in large-group and paired discussions. Make note of student responses throughout your observation.
• Individually assess students’ knowledge of the Moon through informal discussions and written information in their science notebooks.
• Monitor student recordings on individual calendars.

Day 1

To prepare for learning about the Earth’s Moon and identify students’ prior knowledge, engage students in an informal discussion. Invite students to your meeting area and discuss what they know of the objects in the sky. Say, “For the next few days we are going to focus on three celestial objects in our solar system and their movements in the sky--our Sun, Earth, and Moon. Let’s start with what we know about the Moon.” Begin by listing students’ prior knowledge about the Moon, utilizing a KWL chart. Use the KWL Chart example (S-3-5-1_KWL Chart.doc) as needed as a model for the classroom chart. Say, “We are going to use this KWL chart to list what we already know about our Moon, what questions we have, and what our new learning is. Let’s give this chart a title, ‘The Sun, Earth, and Earth’s Moon.’ When we use a KWL chart, the first column lists ‘What do I know?’”

After identifying and recording about five to seven facts that students know, including any misconceptions they have about the Moon, say, “What questions might you have about our Moon?” and write the title to the “W” column, “What ?s Do We Have.” List students’ suggested questions in that column. You may need to guide student thinking by modeling your own thinking, such as:

• “I wonder where the Moon goes at night.”
• “How long does it take for the Moon to go from No Moon, which is called the New Moon, to a Full Moon?”
• “What causes the Moon to shine?”
• “What are the different shapes of the Moon?”
• “Do all places of the Earth see the same Moon shape?”
• “How does the Moon affect plant growth?”
• “How do farmers use the Moon to know when to plant their crops?”

Tell students they are going to keep the KWL Chart and add and change their information as they continue in this lesson.

Give each student or student pair a calendar. (Note: The calendars should all have the phases of the Moon visible for students to use to collect data. These calendars do not have to be current.) Students should be familiar with the format of the calendars.

Allow students the opportunity to document the observable changes of the Moon by viewing several calendars and selecting one month to record their observations. Use the Lunar Calendar activity sheet (S-3-5-1_Lunar Calendar.doc) to document student observations. This will allow students to compare their observations with their new learning. It also allows students to construct knowledge for themselves and build on this knowledge to develop a deeper understanding.

Display student calendars and discuss and ask the following questions:

• “Do all our calendar pages have similar recordings?”
• “What is different/same about our pages?”
• “What do the symbols for the Moon tell us?”
• “What do the Moon symbols tell us we should see if we look outside?”

Day 2

Note: Prior to this activity you might find it necessary to precut all openings in each group’s shoebox unless you feel that students can cut the openings with little difficulty.

Tell students, “One of the questions I thought you might have is: What makes the Moon light up? So, I brought all these materials (refer to the shoebox, flashlight, string, Styrofoam ball, etc.) for us to investigate that question. I cannot bring in the Moon, so we are going to use a model of the Moon. Remember a model is a smaller example of something that would be too big to show you in class. I’m going to put you into groups of three and have students number off 1 through 3.” You may want to have students already in groups of three, or list student groups on the board.

Say, “Now that you are in a group, I need the number 1 person to gather all the materials listed on the board. The number 2 person will cut out the viewing hole and the square shape out of the shoebox (see the diagram on the board). The number 3 person will tape the Styrofoam ball to the box lid and shine the flashlight through the square hole for the other team members to observe the model Moon. The number 3 person will also select one of the other team members to hold the flashlight as s/he looks through the viewing hole.”

Procedure

Note: You may need to demonstrate each step and assign jobs for each member of the group. It would also be useful to have a model to use to demonstrate. Allow time for construction of the models.

1.      Ask the number 3 person to shine the light on the black construction paper and then the white index cards. Ask, “Which one appears brighter? Why? Which of the surfaces will reflect more light? The black or the white?” Discuss the use of white paint on crosswalk lines. How might this be helpful at night? Lead the discussion to the Moon: “Does the Moon reflect or produce light? How do we know?”

2.      Instruct the number 2 person to take the shoebox, and using a pencil, punch a hole in the middle of the narrow end of the box. Then have him or her cut out a 2-inch square hole in the middle of one side. (Draw out the square using a marker and ruler, draw an X in the middle of the square, and cut on the lines). Cover the hole with three white index cards. (The flashlight will be placed here to model the Sun, which produces the light.)

3.      Ask a student to remove the lid. All students will help line the inside of the box with the black construction paper (top and bottom). Ask the number 2 person to reopen the openings that were covered up with black construction paper.

4.      Student number 3 will take the lid and attach the Styrofoam ball to the string, and hang the ball from the inside of the box lid so that it is hanging directly across from the side opening. Put the lid back on. The ball should be hanging down about 1 to 1½ inches.

5.      Have each student take turns looking through the end viewing hole without using the flashlight and then with the flashlight placed against the side hole. (Students should see a distinct half Moon.)

6.      When each student has had the opportunity to observe through the viewing hole, take a sheet of paper and draw and write what students saw (or you might want students to document the activity in a science notebook).

7.       Ask the number 2 person to again cut a two-inch square hole in the middle of the other end and side of the shoebox. Cover each hole with three index cards. Shine the flashlight (the Sun) in each of the holes, observe, and document observations on the observation sheet.

8.      Ask the number 1 student to collect all materials and place them back where s/he retrieved them from. Use one of the shoeboxes and flashlights for a Science Center in your classroom so students can continue their explorations.

Note: Make sure that students understand to move the shoebox and keep the flashlight in a stable position, so students do not misunderstand that the Sun moves to make the different phases.

9.      Invite students back to the meeting area for a discussion of their observations. “For us to see anything, there must be reflecting or producing light. What type of light allowed us to see the different views of the Moon? (reflecting light from the Sun, which was the flashlight in the model). Our Sun, which is a star, is a producer of light. All stars are producers. We can see the Sun better than all the other stars as it is so much closer to Earth than any other star. We cannot see the stars during the day because our Sun produces so much light that we are not able to see the light from the other stars. We must wait until our Sun sets to see the stars. How many of you have flown in an airplane? Was it daytime or nighttime? What were you able to see? Imagine being up in an airplane during the night. At night we can see the street lights and sometimes the lights from cars, but not the trees, bushes, or people taking an evening walk. We know there are more things that we cannot see because they do not produce light. During the day, we can see much more.”

Invite students to a follow-up discussion. Use the KWL chart and add a third column, “What I Have Learned.” Ask students what they learned from this activity. (Student responses might be: I didn’t see anything until my partner turned on the flashlight. I only saw half of the ball lit up.)

Say, “Did any of this new information cause you to think of more questions? That would be thinking like a scientist. Scientists are always wanting and looking for more information until they come to a conclusion, and even then their new findings might direct them to another question.” Guide students’ new thinking to what they can view from Earth. If they do not bring up the light and dark areas of the Moon, guide their thinking toward that line of questioning.

Day 3

Show students the book The Moon by Seymour Simon. Ask them to think for a moment about what they might learn in this book and then allow them time to share their thoughts with a partner. Tell them to pay special attention to the illustrations in the book, especially the light and dark areas of the Moon, as you read the story. Stop periodically during the reading to allow for partner discussions and to check for meaning. Ask students to help you pick one or two important points that you can add to the “L” section of the KWL Chart (e.g., dark areas are deeper than the lighter areas of the Moon or there are hills and valleys or high points and low points).

Conclude the lesson by having students write in the science notebook their impressions of the activity and what they learned. Then ask students to start making nightly observation of our Moon, share these observations with the class, and use a current calendar to make drawings of the Moon each night. Students should also note whether the Moon was visible during the daylight hours.

Extension:

• Students who might be going beyond the standards can write a fictional story about going to the Moon using the literary element of voice along with some interesting Moon facts. Students can then share the story with the class.
• Students who may need an opportunity for additional learning can be given a calendar page to identify the changes of the Moon that are noted on the calendar.