The Moon

Moon Origin The Moon is as old as the Earth, 4.5 billion years old, with many theories explaining its creation. The current best theory is that early in the Earth’s creation, a meteor impacted the planet, tearing away a large chunk which there orbited the planet. This chunk turned into the Moon.

Moon Properties The moon diameter is about 1/4th of the Earth, and is less dense with 1/6th Earth ’s gravity.The Moon’s pull creates the tides here on Earth. There is no air, no water or no life on the Moon. The Moon’s surface is covered with craters formed from meteor impacts. Large impacts created dark lava flows called marias.

Orbit and Rotation The Moon circles the Earth every 29.5 days, or about once a “moonth” or month. It rotates, or spins on its axis once a month too, so one side is always facing the Earth. The Moon’s orbit is elliptical, like the planets around the Sun, and is about 240,000 miles from Earth.

Phases The Moon appears to change shape throughout the month, but it is caused by the reflection of sunlight.

Eclipses The Earth and Moon sometimes blocks sunlight from each other. A Lunar eclipse is when the Earth’s shadow falls on the Moon. A Solar eclipse is when the Moon’s shadow falls on the Earth.

Moon Myths For as long as there have been people, there has been stories of wonder about the Moon. Every culture has their own story.

Exploration In 1961, President Kennedy challenged the nation to land a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. NASA accomplished that goal will the Apollo 11 landing on July 17, 1969.

Student Project Your team will pick an area of interest about the Moon, and using your textbook, the library and the websites provided, create a PowerPoint presentation during Computer Lab to share with the class.

Related Web Sites General Facts: Rotation/Orbit/Phases Eclipses Myths Exploration