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Earth and Space Science

The Phases of the Moon

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Nicole Rodriguez Nicole Rodriguez 245 Points

What are some good strategies and activities to use for ELL students when teaching them about the phases of the moon? 
Matt Bobrowsky Matt Bobrowsky 6410 Points

The usual activities you hear about using paper plates or Oreos don't actually teach much about the phases of the moon. Instead, try something more experiential:

In an otherwise dark room, set up a bright light bulb in the center representing the sun, and let students explore how a ball (or any round object, like an orange) shows different phases when looked at from different angles and as the ball moves around the 'sun.'

Then, on a day when the moon is visible in the sky, give them each a small ball or orange, take them outside, and have them hold up the ball in the direction of the moon. The ball will show the same phase as the moon -- and for the same reason! (See the attached photo.)

 
Jake Schulke Jake Schulke 1035 Points

The phases of the moon is a cool lesson becasue you could do the whole thing without saying a word. Demonstrating the moon phases lends itself to the use of viusal aids, and doing it kinesthetically by having students hold manipulatives and move around each other could be a very fun way for them to access and undersand the concept. NASA/JPL has a lot of resources for space science, including moon phases (https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/moon-phases/).
Jennifer Toy Jennifer Toy 735 Points

This is awesome! I also recently was told by a friend that you can give students a dice that has different images of moon phases on it, and based on whatever phase they land on, they have to predict where the moon is in its cycle and what the next phases to come should be. I thought that would be a cool activity to try next year!
Kate Hernandez Kate Hernandez 610 Points

Hello Nicole, I really like this topic since it is very interesting to see how the moon changes as the days pass by. Something I recommend you to do is to give the students a visual representation of what they are learning since English is not their first language and it may be hard to connect those words to a mental image. A great activity could be to create a book with paper plates and the materials will be paper plates, white sheets of paper, glue, black crayon, pencil, scissors, and a stapler. The students will cut the white sheets of paper to the size of the plate and glue them on each side of the plate. Then they will color black the front of the plate based on the phase the moon is and on the back of the plate they will write information/details about that certain phase. Hope this helps.
Matt Bobrowsky Matt Bobrowsky 6410 Points

Interesting idea, Kate.  I'm wondering what you'd want students to take away from this activity.  What information/details do you envision would be written about each phase?

Matt
Jaqueline Nevarez Jaqueline Nevarez 580 Points

Hi Nicole! 

I was observing this one class where the students were learning about the Moon Phases. The activity that the teacher was presenting was called Oreo Moon Phases. The teacher or students were to bring Oreos to class and have the students each create all the phases of the moon using the tuf of an oreo. Having a visual representation can help students connect the phases to a mental picture. It brings engagement and can be a fun activity to do. 
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