Phases of the Moon

1. Phases of the Moon A WebQuest for 1st Graders Designed by Julie Garry Introduction The Task Process Evaluation Conclusion Credits Teacher Pages

2. Introduction: • Have you ever wondered why everyone always talks about a Full Moon? • Do you wonder why a Full Moon happens everyone once in a while? • In this project you will be observing the Moon and finding patterns in it's behavior. You will be drawing your Moon observations and also exploring the different phases of the Moon. What type of patterns do you see with the Moon?

3. The Task: • Look at the moon tonight when you are at home. Draw a picture of what the moon looks like. • Put the date on your drawing. • When you arrive at school, draw a picture on Kid Pix of what your moon looked like. • Don’t forget to put your name and the date on it. • Every week on your scheduled day, you will draw a picture of what your moon looked like for the next six weeks. Four students will be assigned to a day of the week. • You will use Kid Pix throughout your research.

4. The Task (cont.): • Internet Resources: Moon Phases Interactive • http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/java/MoonPhase.html Find Out Today's Moon Phase and Your Birthday • http://kids.msfc.nasa.gov/Earth/Moon/Moon.asp Moon Pictures • http://www.mikeoates.org/mavica/lunar.htm • http://djoye.chez.tiscali.fr/Moon.gif • http://www.solarviews.com/eng/moon.htm#views • http://www.astrosurf.com/re/moon.html • http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/captions/earth/galmoon.htm

5. Process: 1. You will look at the moon tonight and draw a picture of it on paper. 2. Bring in your picture tomorrow. 3. On Kid Pix, draw the moon that you saw yesterday and put the date and your name on it. 4. If you drew a picture of the Moon on Monday night, continue looking at the Moon every Monday for the next 5 weeks. If you looked at the Moon on Tuesday, you'll look at the Moon every Tuesday night, and so on. 5. Click on the red circle and look at the phases of the moon from the "Top View", from the "Earth View" and from "Both".

6. Process (cont.) • Make sure you press the "Animate" button in order to see what happens. 6. Click on the blue circles and look at the moon pictures. 7. Using Kid Pix, draw a picture of your favorite moon picture. 8. Using the greencircle, type in your birthday and find out what the moon looked like on the day you were born. a. Print this page. 9. Using the same link, type in your birthday this year (02-02-05). a. Print this page.

7. Process (cont.) 10. Using the same link, type in the dates you looked at the Moon. a. Print those pages. 11. Compare your drawings to the computer pictures. 12. On Kid Pix type and print: a. What is the same and different about your pictures and the pictures from the computer? b. What is interesting about your moon pictures? c. What is one thing you learned about the moon?

8. Process (cont.) 13. Print out this website and fill out the Evaluation part. 14. Turn in all papers and the evaluation form to your teacher. Make sure your name is on all of them.

9. Evaluation

10. Conclusion: • When you have finished this Moon WebQuest, you will have learned that the moon changes shape. You will also learn that your drawings and your computer pictures should look similar. You will have learned as time goes on, the moon shapes (phases) repeat every twenty-eight days. • Do you see any similarities with the Moon and other stars and planets? • What other information would you like to know about in the Universe?

11. Credits: A Special Thanks To: • Lunar Graphic: http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/education/cs-motions_e.html • Astronaut Graphic: http://can-do.com/uci/ssi2001/lunarcycle.html

12. Teacher Pages: 1. WebQuest Title: Phases of the Moon. 2. Project Topic:Researching what the Moon looks like at different times of the month. Students look for patterns in the Moon and similarities and differences. 3. Audience: This WebQuest is designed for my first grade students and other first grade students at my school. Any teacher can use this WebQuest. 4. How Will I Use This: I will be teaching this lesson in April when we begin our “Patterns of Change” unit.  We will be working on the project in our classroom as well as in the computer lab, since we only have computer time once a week.  I am able to check out the laptop lab for classroom use. 5. Relates to Curriculum: This WebQuest fits into my curriculum because it is based on our underlying theme.

13. Teacher Pages (cont.): 6. This is an Inquiry-based project because I am going to find sources of information on the Internet, which are appropriate for the task. The students will use multiple Internet sites to understand more about the phases of the Moon, apply their knowledge, and create pictures and a written document containing information they learned. 7. The students will enter into this topic with some background knowledge about the Moon phases. They will use the Internet to determine that the Moon shapes keep repeating. 8. I am planning on having my students use meaningful learning. At the age of 6-7 year-olds, it is important that students scaffold on their prior knowledge. 9. My students will be working independently in order to monitor each student’s participation.  Students will be using the Internet individually, as it is a new tool for them. If my students need help, they need to ask three friends, and then they can ask me.