Mon Prof Augmenté
Four Shapes of the Moon
Age 10 Science
The Moon takes about a month to go through all of its shapes. Sunlight always lights up one half of the Moon, and we see more or less of that bright half as the Moon travels around Earth.
Step by step
- Badge 1 sits on the thin crescent Moon, a slim bright curve on the right side.
- Badge 2 sits on the half-lit Moon, bright on the right and dark on the left.
- Badge 3 sits on the almost full Moon, with only a narrow shadow left.
- Badge 4 sits on the full Moon, a whole bright disc.
Examples
- A ball under a lamp looks half bright and half dark, just like the Moon.
- Looking up on different nights of the same month, the Moon has a different shape each time.
Key takeaways
- The Moon's phases repeat about every 29 and a half days.
- The Moon makes no light of its own, it bounces back the Sun's light.
A quiz goes with this lesson
Three questions asked a few days later, to check the idea stuck — not that the picture was seen. In the app, with a subscription.