Earth, Moon and Sun

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Topics and Activities

• Explore the Moon with a Moon map
  • Watching the Moon with binoculars and a telescope
• Modelling Day and Night, Phases of the Moon, and Eclipses
  • Primary school activities
  • Secondary or university level lab
  • Answer key
  • Lunar cycle index page
  • Lunar eclipses
  • Solar eclipses
• Sandy, Pepper and the Eclipse planetarium show (see below)
• Pudding Craters
• How high, how far? See how far and how high you can jump here on earth. Then multiply by 6 to see how far and how high you could jump on the moon.
• Size and scale of the Earth and Moon (models)
• Solar System Detectives. Students chase two thieves throughout the solar system, gathering clues to solve this "space case" by recognizing scenes near each planet the thieves pass.
• Larry, Cat in Space planetarium show (see below)

Resources

• Moon phase watch activity: requires 2 to 4 weeks
• Apollo missions
• Solar System web links
• Watch the Moon through a telescope after our Friday night shows.
• Watch the films "Apollo 13" or "The Right Stuff."

Bibliography

Juvenile non-fiction astronomy books are shelved under j522 and j523. Books published by Scholastic are marked [S]. General astronomy books are listed on the primary group index page. See Material Goodies list for other adult or teacher recommended items.

• What Makes Day and Night, Franklyn M. Branley
• How We Learned the Earth is Round, Patricia Lauber [S]
• Why Doesn't the Earth Fall Up? by Vicki Cobb [S]
• You're Aboard Spaceship Earth, Patricia Lauber [S]
• The Moon Book, Gail Gibbons [S]
• The Moon, Michael George
• The Sun, Michael George
• Sun Dogs and Shooting Stars, Franklyn M. Branley
• Grandfather Twilight, Barbara Berger (Grades Pre-3)
• How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World, Faith McNulty (Grades K-8)
• Many Moons, James Thurber (Grades K-5)
• Nine O'Clock Lullaby, Marilyn Singer (Grades Pre-6)
• Planet of Exile, Ursula LeGuin, Grades 6-adult)
• Sky Songs, Myra Cohn

Planetarium shows

	Larry, Cat in Space A cat's eye view of the Meeooowwn. Written for younger children, to conclude a comprehensive unit study of the Moon. 30 minutes Created by Loch Ness Productions
Image coming soon	Sandy, Pepper and the Eclipse Come along with Sandy, a golden retriever, as she teaches Pepper, a beagle puppy, all about solar eclipses. 30 minutes Created by Bowen Productions

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