Moon and Its Phases Activity for Kids
Introduction
Clean drinking water is essential for our health. Water containing bacteria or viruses can make us very sick. Unfortunately, not everybody has access to clean water from centralized water plants. However, nearly everybody nowadays has a smartphone! That’s why we developed a small device and an app which can be used with a smartphone to kill harmful bacteria in water. It could mean that people without a clean water supply can easily disinfect their drinking water and avoid getting sick.
About This Project
Make a model of the phases of the moon!
Full Article
Video
Material List
- 1 Lamp
- 1 Pen or pencil
- 1 Foam ball
- 1 Science notebook & pencil
- 1 Cellphone camera (optional)
Instructions
- Place the lamp on a table you can stand near.
- Carefully, push the pencil into the middle of the foam ball (the moon).
- Turn on the lamp (the sun) and turn off the room lights.
- Hold the pencil with the ball out at arm’s length.
- With your arm held out straight, turn your whole body slowly to the left.
- Take a photo of what you see each 1/8th of a turn (or draw it in your notebook).
How It Works
As you move the moon, you’ll begin to see different phases. Remember that the moon (represented by the foam ball) does not make its own light, it only reflects light from the lamp (represented by the sun). The phases are caused by how much reflected light we can see from earth (that’s you!). Since the moon orbits around the Earth every 27 days, these phases repeat over and over. It’s a cycle!
