Kn 6 Ls 5 The Moon

welcome to ckla knowledge 6 lesson 5

the moon

our purpose for listening today is we

want to be able to identify major

constellations and important discoveries

made by astronomers

listen so we can explain the appearance

and identify four phases of the moon

listen carefully to understand the word

clockwise

and

counterclockwise

the study of outer space is called

astronomy

think in your head

whose job is it to study the stars

it's an astronomer's job to study the

stars

think in your head

what do astronomers use to explore the

stars and outer space

astronomers use observatories

and

telescopes

think in your head

what is the streak of light in the night

sky we see when we see a shooting star

what is the streak of light in the night

sky

that happens when there's a shooting

star

that is a meteor

some type of debris

going through our atmosphere listen

carefully

in today's read aloud we are going to

hear that the moon does not have its own

light

rather the light you see when you look

at the moon is actually light from the

sun

reflecting off the moon

earth's closest celestial neighbor is

featured in this photograph

what is this famous celestial body

called it is the moon

people have been looking at the moon and

wondering about it for thousands and

thousands of years and they have

invented all kinds of stories about it

some ancient myths explained that the

moon was the sun's sister

other people said the moon was a giant

face looking down on the earth some

children's stories even said the moon

was made of cheese

in fact the moon basically is just a big

cold dark rock

you heard it right although the moon

sometimes appears to be shiny and bright

in the night sky the moon does not

produce any light of its own

it is not a star like the sun but a rock

the light you see when you look at the

moon is actually light from the sun

reflecting or bouncing off of it

while earth orbits or revolves around

the sun

the moon orbits or revolves around earth

do you remember how long it takes for

the earth to orbit or go all the way

around the sun

it takes

365 days or one year

can you guess how long it takes for the

moon to orbit earth

it takes a little more than 27 days or

about a month for the moon to make a

complete trip around the earth

the moon also rotates on its axis as it

orbits earth

in fact the moon rotates exactly once as

it orbits earth exactly once

this remarkable feature keeps the same

side of the moon always facing earth

that means we never see the back of the

moon when we look up in the sky

the appearance of the moon

changes depending on where it is in its

orbit

follow the arrows in this diagram and

you can see that the moon orbits earth

in a

counterclockwise motion

the sun is over on the right hand side

of this diagram

this image gives you a better idea of

what the moon really looks like during

each of its phases

during the first half of its orbit the

moon is said to be waxing

meaning that over the course of several

nights more and more of it becomes

visible from earth

then halfway through its cycle the full

moon appears meaning that the side

facing the earth is also facing the

light of the sun

as the moon completes the last half of

its orbit less and less of it is visible

each night

during this time we say the moon is

waning

less of the moon is seen

by the time it completes its cycle it

appears as little more than a shiny

silver of light in the sky

on other nights it looks like there is

no moon at all

remember how the moon does not make any

light of its own

well sometimes the moon is between the

sun and the earth and the sight of the

moon facing the earth does not reflect

any sunlight

when this happens the sight of the moon

facing the earth is dark and it looks

like there is no moon in the sky

this is called a new moon

the moon never looks exactly the same

from one night to the next

the moon does not change its shape it is

always a big

round

rock

instead it only appears to change shape

depending on how sunlight hits the moon

during its orbit

on certain nights you can only see a

sliver or small piece of the moon this

is called a crescent moon

the crescent shape is curved like a

banana and comes to a point at the end

on other nights it looks like someone

sliced the moon in half

this is called a half moon

remember the moon only looks like it is

changing shape

it is always a big round rock but it can

look different during its orbit

depending on how the light reflects off

it

halfway through its cycle the moon looks

like this

this is called a full moon

because the full round moon is shining

brightly in the night sky

because it takes only 27 days for the

moon to complete its orbit around earth

and most months in the calendar have

about 30 days it is possible for a full

moon to appear twice in the course of

one calendar month

when this happens it is called a blue

moon but this is rare it only happens

every few years so if you hear someone

say that something only happens once in

a blue moon

they mean that it does not happen very

often

some people say that they see what looks

like a man's face when they look at the

full moon

that is why people sometimes talk about

the man in the moon

as though there really was a face on the

moon can you see what appears to be two

eyes a nose and a mouth on this moon

of course in reality there is no face on

the moon

just a big round rock

people sometimes see what looks like a

man's face in the moon because of the

dark areas on the moon's surface

these dark areas are places where a long

time ago lava from inside of the moon

poured out onto the moon's surface

these areas no longer have lava in them

but the holes left behind reflect

sunlight differently than the rest of

the moon's surface

so when you look up at a full moon you

can see some of the deep and dark holes

across the moon's surface

when you take a close-up look you can

see that the moon's surface is also

covered with hundreds and thousands of

craters

to understand why these craters are

there you need to know a few more facts

about the moon

unlike earth the moon has no atmosphere

there is not a protective bubble of air

around the moon

nor does the moon have any water soil

plants or any other signs of life

whatsoever

without an atmosphere the moon has

nothing to protect it from all the rocks

and debris that zoom through outer space

these strike earth all the time but when

they hit the atmosphere most of them

burn up in a streak of light known as a

meteor

rocks and debris however do not burn up

when they hit the moon they just crash

right onto the moon's surface

and leave what are known as impact

craters

in a later read-aloud you will learn the

amazing true story about real men on the

moon

not just lava lakes that look like a

man's face but actual men who traveled

to the moon and walked around on it

keep listening over the next couple of

days and you will learn

more what did you learn

share with a friend something you

learned about the moon

try these sentence starters

i heard that the moon

or

some people thought the moon

have fun sharing and learning together