As the moon goes through its phases, it looks a little different each night, ranging from not there at all to full. Your group will act out how the sun illuminates the moon as it orbits Earth, to understand how the moon moves through its phases.
BACKGROUND
The moon shines because it is reflecting the sun. So why doesn’t it always look the same? As it travels around Earth, the half of the moon facing the sun is always “lit up.” What we see depends on where the moon is in orbit, and the relative positions of Earth and the sun. For instance, when it is a new moon, the moon is between Earth and the sun with its bright side facing the sun and its dark side facing Earth. When the moon is full, and we see a full circle of light in the sky, Earth is between the moon and the sun—the moon’s bright side is facing us. It helps to look at a diagram to fully understand the phases of the moon and there is a good one at Clear Skies on Demand.
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