The Moon's journey

Lesson overviewGROW · Week 7

Same Moon. Changing view.

Explain how the Moon moves and why it looks different across a month.

The Moon viewed from Earth, with light and dark surface features.

The Moon's journeySlide 1 of 13

You Do · practiseGROW · Week 7

Start with what you think

Supported: point to the full Moon on a phase strip.

Standard: estimate the time for one orbit of Earth.

Stretch: add where the Moon's light comes from.

The Moon's journeySlide 2 of 13

I Do · learn and modelGROW · Week 7

Three things to work out

1 Orbit and time.

2 Where the light comes from.

3 Model the changing view.

The Moon's journeySlide 3 of 13

I Do · learn and modelGROW · Week 7

Moonlight begins at the Sun

Read the slide text

An arrow carries sunlight from the Sun to the Moon. A second arrow carries reflected light from the Moon to an observer. Sun Moon sunlight reflected light observer Sunlight reaches the Moon. Some light is reflected to us. The Moon does not make its own visible light.

The Moon's journeySlide 4 of 13

I Do · learn and modelGROW · Week 7

Keep the light direction fixed

Torch = Sun. Ball = Moon. Observer = a view from Earth.

Keep the light fixed while the ball changes position.

Watch the visible lit part. The ball stays round.

The Moon's journeySlide 5 of 13

I Do · learn and modelGROW · Week 7

New, half and full: three views

VIEW FROM EARTH	WHAT WE SEE LIT
New Moon Half Moon Full Moon	Little or none of the lit half About half the visible disc The whole visible disc

The Moon's journeySlide 6 of 13

We Do · think togetherGROW · Week 7

What explains each observation?

An ordinary crescent Moon.

An ordinary full Moon.

New Moon is hard to see.

The Moon looks dark red during a lunar eclipse.

The Moon's journeySlide 7 of 13

We Do · think togetherGROW · Week 7

Phases and eclipses differ

ORDINARY PHASES	LUNAR ECLIPSE
The viewing angle changes. The visible lit portion changes. The Moon remains round.	Earth blocks direct sunlight. Earth's shadow reaches the Moon. This is not the monthly phase cause.

The Moon's journeySlide 8 of 13

I Do · learn and modelGROW · Week 7

Explain cause, then observation

Read the slide text

Three schematic views from Earth show a dark new Moon, a half-lit Moon and a full lit disc. The changing visible lit fraction is shown, not a change in the Moon’s shape. As the Moon orbits Earth, we see different amounts of its sunlit half. That is why its phase appears to change. New Half Full View from Earth • schematic

The Moon's journeySlide 9 of 13

We Do · think togetherGROW · Week 7

Sort the five claims

The Moon reflects sunlight.

The Moon glows by itself.

Ordinary phases are caused by Earth's shadow.

The Moon orbits Earth in about a month.

The Moon is only visible at night.

The Moon's journeySlide 10 of 13

We Do · think togetherGROW · Week 7

Check the original claims

TRUE	FALSE
The Moon reflects sunlight. One orbit is roughly a month.	It makes its own visible light. Earth's shadow causes phases. It is only visible at night.

The Moon's journeySlide 11 of 13

We Do · think togetherGROW · Week 7

A complete model answer

The Moon reflects sunlight. As it orbits Earth, our view of the lit half changes.

Ordinary phases are not Earth's shadow.

The Moon's journeySlide 12 of 13

We Do · think togetherGROW · Week 7

Keep your explanation for Tuesday

Keep your claim-sort and corrected explanation.

Next lesson: test new, half and full views.

Choose one view to check again.

The Moon's journeySlide 13 of 13

Use the controls or left and right arrow keys. Printing includes pupil content; model answers remain separate.