Aim: The Movement of the Earth Seasons and the Moon

Days

The Sun in the Sky ! When it is summer in the northern hemisphere, it is winter in the southern hemisphere. The Sun appears to be higher in the sky in the summer than it does in the winter.

Seasons The Earth's axis is tilted slightly compared to the way it orbits the Sun. Because of this tilting of the Earth's axis, we get the different seasons (winter, spring, summer and autumn).

Seasons Demo

Seasons When it is summer in the US, the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun. When it is winter in the US, the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun.

The Moon

The Moon is the natural satellite of the Earth. It orbits the Earth but no-one built it or launched it into space. Gravitational forces between the Moon and the Earth keep the Moon in orbit.

The Moon The Moon is not a luminous object, so it does not make its own light. Instead, it reflects light from the Sun The Sun (like all stars) is a luminous object.

The Moon’s Orbit A satellite has to travel at the correct speed to stay in orbit at a particular distance from a planet. It takes the Moon 28 days to make a complete orbit of the Earth. As it orbits, we see different amounts of the Moon, so we see different phases of the Moon.

Moon Phases

The Shapes of the Moon Remember that we can only see the part of the Moon that reflects the Sun's light. How much of that we can see depends upon the position of the Moon in its orbit.

The phases of the Moon in the sky depends on its position in its orbit around the Earth When the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun, we can't see When the Moon is opposite the Sun relative to the Earth, it appears "Full" (Full Moon.)

Moon Phase Animation

The Moon Currently m/themoon/moonphasealpha/default.asphttp:// m/themoon/moonphasealpha/default.asp

Moon Facts The Earth's Moon is bigger than the planet Pluto. The Moon has a nearly circular orbit which is tilted about 5° to the plane of the Earth's orbit. The combination of the Moon's size and its distance from the Earth causes the Moon to appear the same size in the sky as the Sun

Have you ever seen the dark side of the moon ?

Moon Facts Have you ever heard the term the 'far-side' of the Moon? The same side of the moon always faces the Earth. It takes the Moon the same amount of time to rotate around once -- as it does for the Moon to go around the Earth once. Therefore, Earth-bound observers can never see the 'far-side' of the Moon.

Scale of Earth to the Moon The average distance between Earth and Moon is approximately 30 times Earth's diameter. If you could fly to the Moon at a constant speed of 1000 kilometers per hour, which is the speed of a fast passenger jet, it would take sixteen days to get there..

Scale of Earth to the Moon The average distance between Earth and Moon is approximately 30 times Earth's diameter. When the Moon is at apogee, it is 11% farther from Earth than it is at perigee. Perigee 363,300 km Mean384,400 km Apogee405,500 km

Earth and Moon Compared The Moon has approximately 1/4 Earth's diameter. The Moon's surface gravity is 1/6 of Earth's It's surface temperature ranges from 123 to Celsius

Self Test

Moon Facts The Moon has been the Earth's companion for over 3 billion years. Long before humans walked the Earth, animals came out at night to graze by its friendly light.

Moon Facts Besides its visual benefits, the Moon's gravitational pull on the Earth cause the seas and oceans to rise and fall in an endless cycle of low and high tides that much of the Earth's shoreline life depends

Tide Animation

Full/New Moon High Tide

Neap Tide

The Earth's tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon. The Earth bulges slightly both toward and away from the Moon. As the Earth rotates daily, the bulges move across the Earth. Since the Earth's water is more fluid than the land, it bulges slightly more, resulting in high tides

Moon Facts One of nature's most fascinating displays occurs during a lunar eclipse and a solar eclipse.

Solar Eclipse The moon comes between the sun and the earth The moon’s shadow is cast on the earth

Solar Eclipse The moon comes between the sun and the earth The moon’s shadow is cast on the earth

Lunar Eclipse The earth comes between the sun and the moon The earth’s shadow is cast on the moon

Observe images illustrating the impact theory of the moon's formation. Keycode: ES2501Observe images illustrating the impact theory of the moon's formation. Observe a lunar eclipse. Keycode: ES2504 Observe a lunar eclipse. Examine the phases of the moon from Earth and space. Keycode: ES2503Examine the phases of the moon from Earth and space. Observe solar eclipses. Keycode: ES2505Observe solar eclipses.

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