Written by: Victoria, Summer Science Ambassador – Fun At Home Science Activities – Astronomy for Kids (Home Science Activities)
This week’s experiment is all about moon phases. If you have ever been outside at night then you may have noticed that the moon looks different on different days, but why is that? Well it happens for a few reasons. First of all, the moon is tidally locked to the Earth. So at any given time, we can only ever see half of the moon. The sun can only shine on half the moon at one time, so when the moon revolves around the Earth, the sun hits it at different angles. Therefore, depending on where the moon is in its orbit around the Earth, we see different amounts of light.
The Experiment:
For this week’s experiment, we will building a model to show how the light from the sun hits the moon and how it is seen from the Earth.
Purpose:
The purpose of this experiment is to show why the moon has different phases.
Materials:
For this experiment you will need:
- Styrofoam balls
- A flashlight
- Shish Kabob skewers
- Plasticine
- Paint or markers (only one of the 2)
Instructions:
1). First, paint one slightly larger Styrofoam ball to look like the Earth and another one to look like the moon. For the moon, paint one side completely black.
2). Place the Earth and the moon on shish kabob skewers.
3). Place play dough or plasticine on the bottom of the Earth shish kabob skewer, so it stands upright.
4). Hold the flash light and point it at the Earth. You may need to ask an adult for assistance at this step.
5). Finally take the shish kabob skewer with the moon and move it around the Earth – keeping the side painted black away from the flash light at all times.
If you have done this correctly you should be able to see the moon phases when you bring the moon around the Earth and observe it from different angles.
Vocabulary:
Rotation: When an object moves fully on its axis or spins in place one time. For example, one full day on the Earth is one rotation.
Revolution: When an object orbits around another object one time. For example, one full year on Earth is one full revolution of Earth.
Tidally Locked: When an object takes the same amount of time to make one revolution and one orbit.
To complete this activity with Victoria, watch the youtube video down below! – View our Youtube channel for more Home Science Activities.
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