Course Syllabus

Day 1, Students will learn basic facts about the Moon (After watching video above):

1. What do you know about the Moon?

2. Does it have any other names?

3. Does the Moon spin like the Earth?

4. Have you ever heard about the “Dark side of the Moon?” What is it?

The Moon, also known as Luna, was formed close to 5 billion years ago and is the Earth’s only natural satellite. The moon rotates in synchronicity with the Earth, meaning the same side of the Moon always faces toward Earth. Since there is one side of the moon that can never be seen from Earth, it is called the dark side of the Moon. It is not actually dark; it’s just that we cannot see it from the earth.

5. How far away is the Moon from the Earth?

The moon is about 250,000 miles from the Earth and is slowly moving further away; about 1 ½ inches per year.

6. Do you know a word we get from the Moon’s name?

Even though the word month comes from the word moon, the Moon’s orbit is only 28 days.

7. Does the Moon have an effect on the Earth’s surface?

The Earth’s tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon on the Earth.

8. Is the Moon smaller or larger than the Earth?

9. If it is smaller, and has less mass, what does that mean if you are standing on the Moon’s surface?

Because of the Moon’s smaller mass, objects weigh only about 1/6^th as much on the moon as they do on Earth; a person weighing 60 lbs. on Earth, would only weigh as much as large house cat; 10 lbs.

10. What makes the Moon different from any other celestial body in space?

11. How long does it take to get to the Moon in a rocket?

12. If you aim a rocket at the moon, and go straight, will it get there? Why or why not?

The Moon is the only celestial body, other than Earth that has had people walk on its surface. The first was Neil Armstrong in 1969, and the last was Gene Cernan in 1972. It took them 3 days to get there in their Apollo space craft.

13. What country was the first to land a man-made object on the surface of the Moon?

Before men landed on the Moon, the USSR was first to send a spacecraft to the moon in 1959.

14. Does the Moon have an atmosphere? What does that do to the sky?

15. When a rocket lands on the Moon, could you hear it? Why not?

16. Why do astronauts need to wear space suits?

The moon has no atmosphere so astronauts need to wear suits to protect them from the cosmic rays and to allow them to breathe. Because there is no atmosphere, no sound can be heard on its surface, and the sky always appears pitch black.

17. Have you heard any funny stories about what the Moon supposedly does to people?

It was, and sometimes still is, believed that the Moon made people crazy; thus the word Lunatic.

Discuss basic facts about the Moon; such as the distance from the Earth to the Moon, the difference in mass which translated to the difference in an object’s weight, when man first walked on the Moon, what is special about the rotation of the Moon, what effect the Moon has on the Earth, and people? Through research, students can learn about more interesting facts regarding the Moon and present them to the class on the last day of this lesson.

In groups of 3 or 4 students, have the groups use the computers to find one more interesting fact, per person, about the moon that they will share with the class. Each group will take turns presenting the facts they have found and why those facts were interesting to them.

 

Day 2, Students will learn about the phases of the moon.

1.  Is the Moon the same shape in the sky every night?

2.  Does the moon actually change shape, or does it just look like it?

Using a flashlight, a beach ball and a smaller ball (tennis), demonstrate how the Moon goes through its phases, and why. The phases of the moon are caused by the Sun’s light reflecting off the Moon and reaching the earth.

3.  How long does it take the Moon to go from Full Moon, back to Full Moon again?

This cycle takes approximately 28 days.

Using a projector, poster, or drawings on the board, cover each phase of the Moon.

When there appears to be no Moon in the sky, it is called a New Moon.

When the first sliver of moon appears, it is called a Waxing Crescent Moon.

When half the Moon is visible after a New Moon, it is the First Quarter Moon.

When the moon is getting close to being Full, it is called a Waxing Gibbous Moon.

When the whole Moon is visible, it is a Full Moon.

When the Moon starts to get smaller after a Full Moon, it is called a Waning Gibbous Moon.

When only half the moon remains visible after a Full Moon, it is the Last Quarter Moon.

When only a small sliver of moon is left, it is called a Waning Crescent Moon.

Now we are back to a New Moon.

Why does the Moon look different every night? What are the names of the phases? Explain the relationship between the Earth, Sun and Moon to cause the Moon to appear differently. What is the difference between waning and waxing Moons?

Place students in groups of two. Pass out 8 Oreo cookies to each student. Give each group a paper plate and a plastic knife or spoon. Have students carefully remove just the top cookie from each “sandwich.” Each student should end up with 8 cookies with a white round disc of frosting (Students may eat removed cookie after lesson is completed successfully, for motivation). In groups of two, have students remove a portion of the frosting from each cookie, as necessary, to represent each phase of the Moon during its 28 day cycle.

 

Day 3, Students will learn about the perception of the Moon throughout history:

1. Is human’s interest in the Moon only recent?
2. Is the Moon’s change in the night sky predictable?
3. Does the Moon affect anything on Earth?

Every civilization has studied the Moon. The Moon the brightest object in the night sky, its position and appearance changes from night to night (phases) in a predictable way, making it easy and appealing to follow. Even though it appears to be very far away, it seems to have a strong effect on the Earth, in the form of tides. Ancient people observed the Moon every night and learned how to predict its phases and movements.

 4.  How long ago did people figure out why the Moon’s appearance changes every night?

5. What is an eclipse?

5. What were the Greeks able to measure because they knew what caused an eclipse?
6. Do you think they were able to measure the size of the Moon correctly more than 2000 years ago?

By the time of Pythagoras in 600 B.C., the Greeks understood how the Moon’s motion caused the changes in the Moon’s appearance (phases). Several cultures were able to predict the occurrence of lunar and solar eclipses; where the Moon completely blocks the sun. The ancient Greeks were the first to figure out what was happening during an eclipse, and they used that understanding to measure the size of the Moon. They assumed that the Earth’s shadow is about the same size as the Earth, and measure the time the Moon spends traveling through the Earth’s shadow during a lunar eclipse, they could roughly calculate the sizes of the Earth and Moon. Aristarchus discovered that the Moon’s diameter is about one third of the diameter of the Earth’s. Using modern technology, the measurement is 0.272 of Earth’s diameter; very close to the 33% calculated thousands of years ago.

8. What can we see on the moon, without a telescope, that we cannot see on any other planet?
9. Have you heard about the man in the moon?
10. Why did people think there was something on the moon?
11. Do you know what other cultures believed was on, or in, the Moon (Rabbit, Woman, Buffalo)

The Moon is the only celestial body with features that we can see without a telescope, from Earth. There was much debate about what caused the designs we see on the Moon’s surface. Some even believed there was a “man in the moon”. Eventually, we used telescopes to get a better picture of the Moon. The telescopes showed the moon to be covered in mountains, valleys, and craters.

No detailed drawings of the features were made until the use of the telescope. In 1609 Galileo published his drawings of the Moon. In 1651, an astronomer named Giovanni Riccioli published a system for naming the features on the Moon, which is still in use today. The smooth, dark areas that make up the “man in the Moon”, he called “maria,” or seas. That is why we get the “Sea of Tranquility’, which is where the first Apollo mission landed. Not until hundreds of years later, when people actually traveled to the Moon, did we understand that the “seas” did not actually contain any water.

Discuss what people knew about the Moon throughout history; such as why it was intriguing to the ancient people, what makes it different from other celestial bodies in the sky, how its size was first determined, what the seas on the Moon really are, and why some people thought there was a man in the moon? The first men to set foot on the moon landed in the Sea of Tranquility; did they get wet?

In the same groups as the previous activity, have students research some knowledge that was gained from man landing on the Moon that could not be learned from looking at it from Earth. This could be anything from the presence or absence of life on the Moon, the presence or absence of water, the texture of the surface material, and why it is like that?

 

Day 4, Students will learn about the Race to the Moon:

1957

October: The Soviet Union, USSR, launces Sputnik 1, the first man-made satellite in Earth’s orbit.

November: Sputnik 2 carries Laika, the first animal (dog) into space. Sadly, it turns out she died soon after liftoff because of stress and the high heat inside the capsule. The US called Sputnik 2, Muttnik.

1958

January: The first US satellite, Explorer 1, enters Earth Orbit.

July: President Eisenhower signs the National Aeronautics and Space Act into law, thus creating NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

1959

January: The USSR launces Luna 1 towards the moon, but it misses.

March: The US launches Pioneer 4 and successfully completes the first US lunar flyby.

April: The first 7 US astronauts are announced.

May: the US successfully launches and recovers 2 monkeys, although not into orbit.

September: The USSR crashes Luna 2 onto the Moon’s surface, making it the first man-made object to reach another planetary body.

1961

January: The chimpanzee Ham, survives a sub-orbital flight on US mission; Mercury 2

April: the USSR’s Vostok 1 carries cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin into orbit. He is the first human in space and the first human in orbit.

May 2: The US launches Alan Shepard in Freedom 7. He becomes the first American into space, but not into orbit. His flight only lasted 15 minutes. The new phrase “A-OK” is used by NASA.

May 25: President Kennedy, during his first State of the Union address, commits to landing a man on the Moon within the decade.

September: President Kennedy gives his famous speech at Rice University: "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."

1962

February: John Glenn becomes the first American to enter Earth orbit.

1963

June: Russian Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman into space. The US space program does not employ any female astronauts at this time.

1964

October: the USSR launches the first spacecraft to carry multiple people at once into space at once; Voskhod 1.

How long ago did people really start trying to go to the Moon? Which countries were most involved in the race to the Moon? How many years after the first man-made satellite was launched did people actually walk on the Moon? Were humans the first animals to go into space? Has a woman ever walked on the Moon? What is a space-walk? Who was the first man in Earth orbit? Who was the first American in space? How long was the first US spaceflight? Which president decided we needed to walk on the Moon within 10 years from deciding to do so? 

In groups of 3 or 4 students, have the groups create a timeline using Timetoast (www.timetoast.com), Soft Schools (www.softschools.com), etc. If using Timetoast, be sure to have accounts set up ahead of time if students are not able to create their own account in class groups. Have them create a timeline from 1957 through 1964 showing the events from the first satellite, to the first spaceship to carry multiple people at once. Each timeline should contain at least 12 items. Students who are able to work quickly can also find additional, relevant items to place on their timelines.

Day 5: The Race to the Moon, continued:

1965

March 18: Aboard Russian Voskhod 2, Alexi Leonov becomes the first man to leave the spacecraft and performs the first “spacewalk.”

March 23: Gemini 3, launched by the US, is the first American two-man spacecraft.

June: Ed White, on Gemini 4, is the first American to “walk in space.”

December 4-18: Gemini 7 set a record by staying in space for 14 days.

December 15-16: Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 perform the first rendezvous in space.

1966

March 16: Gemini 8 performs the first docking between two spacecraft

March 31: The Soviet Luna 10 is the first object to achieve lunar orbit and send information back regarding the Moon.

May: American spacecraft, Surveyor 1, lands on the moon and transmits photos and other data back to Earth.

1967

January: 3 American astronauts (Grissom, White, and Chafee) were killed on the launch pad in their Apollo 1 capsule during testing.

April: Russian Cosmonaut Komarov dies when his Soyuz 1 capsule slams into the Earth because of a tangled parachute. This is the first death to occur during a space flight.

1968

October: Apollo 7 successfully enters Earth orbit during first test of the spacecraft.

October: Russian Soyuz 2 and Soyuz 3 rendezvous in Earth orbit.

December: Apollo 8 completes the first manned orbit of the Moon.

1969

March: Apollo 9 completes test of Lunar Module in Earth orbit.

May: Apollo 10 orbits the Moon with a Lunar Module.

July 16: Apollo 11 begins the first manned mission to the Moon.

July 20: Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to walk on the surface of the Moon, followed by Buzz Aldrin. Neil Armstrong’s famous quote: “This is one small step for a man, but one giant leap for mankind” stated as he set foot on the Moon.

July 24: Apollo 11 returns safely to Earth.

November: Apollo 12 complete second successful mission to the Moon.

1970

April: Apollo 13 does not successfully reach the moon due to an exploding oxygen tank. The crew makes it safely back to Earth.

1971

January: Apollo 14 completes a successful Lunar Mission.

July: Apollo 15 takes the 4-wheel-drive lunar rover to the Moon for easier exploration of the lunar surface.

1972

April: Apollo 16 astronauts travel almost 17 miles in lunar rover on the Moon’s surface.

December: Apollo 17; The last men to walk on the Moon are Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt. They stay on the Moon for 3 days.

1975

July: The last Apollo mission. The Apollo capsule is docked with a Soviet Soyuz in Earth orbit, proving that the two country’s space programs are compatible and paves the way for all future collaboration.

What did Neil Armstrong say when he stepped on the Moon? What does it mean? When did humans last walk on the Moon? How many people, total, walked on the Moon? Will we ever go back? Why or why not? What about the footprints left by the astronauts? Are they still there? What happens to abandoned buildings and vehicles on Earth? Will the same thing happen to the equipment left behind on the Moon? Why?

In groups of 3 or 4 students, have the groups create a timeline using Timetoast (www.timetoast.com), Soft Schools (www.softschools.com), etc. If using Timetoast, be sure to have accounts set up ahead of time if students are not able to create their own account in class groups. Have them create a timeline from 1965 through 1975 showing the events from the first satellite, to the first spaceship to carry multiple people at once. Each timeline should contain at least 14 items. Students who are able to work quickly can also find additional, relevant items to place on their timelines. After completing the research, have each group present the interesting facts they have found. 

Day 6,

In groups, students will complete and present what they have learned regarding the Moon’s Phases, the Moon in History, or the Race to the Moon. This can be in an essay, a PowerPoint, or other presentation form depending on the technology skills of the students in the group.