Key Stage 11 Key Stage 2
Link to the National Curriculum
Sc4. Physical Processes (Light)
Children should be taught:
The Earth and Beyond (Key Stage 1)
“to identify different light sources, including the sun”
The Earth and Beyond (Key Stage 2)
“that the Earth orbits the Sun once each year and that the moon takes approximately 28 days to orbit the Earth
The moon phase apparatus represent an exciting way to enable the child to see practically how the orbit of the moon translates into its eight phases over the period of the lunar month using an easily made piece of apparatus from everyday waste materials..
Shoe box, hollow rubber ball length of dowel(easily accessible from any DIY/builders merchants), stiff card, torch
- Draw diagonal lines on the lid of the shoe box. Make a hole in the lid 4mm in diameter
- Make a similar hole in exactly the same place in the base of the shoe box.
- Fix four small feet to the base of the box ,one in each corner
- Paint half of the hollow ball while and the other half black( children’s school paint is adequate)
- Make a hole through the ball to allow the dowel to pass completely through leaving the ball with half the vertical sphere black and half white, and fix the apparatus together (see picture sequence and/or watch CD)
- Draw the eight moon phases on a sheet of paper on the lid and attach the arrow pointer
- Carefully set the dowel point in conjunction with the ball inside the box to demonstrate the eight moon phases(see picture and/or wtch CD
- Make a hole centrally placed in one end of the box to allow torch light simulating the sun to shine in and make a much smaller viewing hole in the other end similarly place
• Switch on the torch and view the phases while turning the dowel on the lid to each phase (a darkened room adds to the efficiency of the viewing)
See video clip on my website www.scienceprimarypracticals.com for construction tips
As the dowel is rotated one phase at a time in an anticlockwise direction, this simulates the rotation of the moon around the Earth that takes one lunar month or 28days to complete.
The moon has no light of its own and as it rotates around the Earth light is reflected off its surface and is directed on to the Earth.
In this case the Sun, that remains stationary in the universe is represented by the torch.
Preliminary / Follow up work
Watching any related video clip related to space and the relative orbits of the planets/ moons would be useful. The BBC has many such resources and /or a visit to a specially set up space observatory would be useful. Spaceguard in Knighton, Powys, Mid Wales, is one such resource well worth a visit. Fill in the prepared worksheet showing the eight phases of the moon.