G8 – Phases of the Moon (On Grade) – 02

As the late afternoon slowly turns into night, you and your grandparents are chilling as you sit out on the backyard deck. As you explain all about your three hits at today’s ball game to Grandpa, Grandma fills your glass of lemonade for the third time. A breeze begins to blow, and you think to yourself, “Where was that breeze an hour ago while you were playing the game? It was an absolute scorcher, standing out in the summer sun.” As you ease back in your chair, you notice the stars are beginning to appear in the darkening sky and the Moon is rising above the eastern horizon. Grandpa gets up and goes inside, only to return seconds later with his binoculars. “I never get tired of looking at the Moon. How about you, Chase? Do you like studying the Moon?” he asks.

You respond that in Science class, you are just now learning about the Moon and how it goes through phases as it makes its circular journey around Earth.

“You don’t say,” states Grandpa. “Tell me more about what you learned in school.”

You explain how you read that for centuries, astronomers studied the patterns in the sky, and they understood the Sun provided light. When the Sun is in the sky, we refer to this time as ‘daytime’. During the night, astronomers saw tiny points of light that moved across the sky. 

When the Sun was not in the sky, these points of light were visible, but when the Sun was in the sky, the tiny points of light could not be seen.

We now know these points of lights as stars and planets.

“Is this too boring?” you ask your grandpa.

“Not at all,” your grandpa responds, “Not at all. I’m actually fascinated, so please continue with your explanation.”