The Moon # 2

Earth, Moon, and Sun

              First,  we watched this short animation that I found on Youtube.

      

        To help the students understand the size and position of the Earth, Moon, and Sun, the students became these three space objects.   The majority of the students pushed their desks together, climbed on top and held a sun made out of butcher paper.

         Next, three students held a butcher paper Earth, and two students held a construction paper moon and began to orbit the Earth.  Then the Earth and the Moon students began to orbit the Sun.

         This was so much fun and the students really began to understand how these three space objects work together! 

Here are some of the questions I asked after this activity.
-  Why are there more people in the sun?
-  Why didn't they move?
-  When the moon is between the Sun and the Earth, what phase of the moon do you think this is?
-  When the moon is to the side of the Earth, how does that look to us here on Earth?