Professor Nakamura was starting to feel settled into his role as professor. He waited for the students to enter the classroom, taking their seats, and smiled at each of them. It was always good to make a good first impression. Behind him, on the board, was a series of pictures of the phases of the moon. “Welcome to fifth year astronomy,” he said, looking around at the students. “My name is Professor Nakamura, and I will be your astronomy professor for the next few years. Providing, of course, that you continue with your studies, which I hope you will. For tonight’s lesson we will be looking at the moon. The moon is classified as a satellite of earth. The word originates from the Latin word satelles meaning ‘guard’, ‘attendant’, or ‘companion’.”
“A lunar terminator is the dividing line between the illuminated side of the moon and the dark side of the moon. While it can be mixed with the energy of the sun, the moon has energy of its own. Interestingly enough,” and Professor Nakamura did believe this was interesting, “the moon rotates on an axis slower than the earth, so we never see the dark side of the moon. We only see one side. During the waning phase, the dark side of the moon is actually illuminated by the sun. Now, onto the phases.
Professor Nakamura paused then tapped the blackboard, where a series of notes began to appear in neat handwriting.
“Although in our case we only note the names of different phases of the moon, lunar calendars such as the maramataka used by Māori of this country have a name for each day of the moon’s cycle. By hundreds of years of observation, they have noted the best days during the lunar calendar to garden or fish, for example.”
“And that’s class for today. If you like, as it is a clear night, you can spend some time looking through the telescopes at the moon, but you don’t have to. Reminder than you need at least an E to advance to next year’s astronomy class. Never too early to think about grades. Oh, and don’t forget your homework,” he said, passing out a sheet of paper to each student as they left.
Name:
House and Year:
Label the moon phases for the image posted above:
A:
B:
C:
D :
E
F:
G:
H:
----
Roleplay the lesson. Homework is for extra credit.
“A lunar terminator is the dividing line between the illuminated side of the moon and the dark side of the moon. While it can be mixed with the energy of the sun, the moon has energy of its own. Interestingly enough,” and Professor Nakamura did believe this was interesting, “the moon rotates on an axis slower than the earth, so we never see the dark side of the moon. We only see one side. During the waning phase, the dark side of the moon is actually illuminated by the sun. Now, onto the phases.
Professor Nakamura paused then tapped the blackboard, where a series of notes began to appear in neat handwriting.
Full Moon: the moon appears to be fully light.
Waning Gibbous: the moon appears to be more than one-half light.
Last Quarter: only half of the moon's surface is reflecting the Sun's rays.
Waning Crescent: the moon appears less than one-half illuminated by direct sunlight.
New Moon: the moon is located between us and the sun. It just means that the side reflecting the Sun's light is facing away from us.
Waxing Crescent: the moon appears to be less than half-light in direct sunlight
First Quarter: half of the moon is visible in the nighttime sky.
Waxing Gibbous: the moon appears to be more than half fully lit by sunlight.
Waning Gibbous: the moon appears to be more than one-half light.
Last Quarter: only half of the moon's surface is reflecting the Sun's rays.
Waning Crescent: the moon appears less than one-half illuminated by direct sunlight.
New Moon: the moon is located between us and the sun. It just means that the side reflecting the Sun's light is facing away from us.
Waxing Crescent: the moon appears to be less than half-light in direct sunlight
First Quarter: half of the moon is visible in the nighttime sky.
Waxing Gibbous: the moon appears to be more than half fully lit by sunlight.
“Although in our case we only note the names of different phases of the moon, lunar calendars such as the maramataka used by Māori of this country have a name for each day of the moon’s cycle. By hundreds of years of observation, they have noted the best days during the lunar calendar to garden or fish, for example.”
“And that’s class for today. If you like, as it is a clear night, you can spend some time looking through the telescopes at the moon, but you don’t have to. Reminder than you need at least an E to advance to next year’s astronomy class. Never too early to think about grades. Oh, and don’t forget your homework,” he said, passing out a sheet of paper to each student as they left.
Name:
House and Year:
Label the moon phases for the image posted above:
A:
B:
C:
D :
E
F:
G:
H:
Roleplay the lesson. Homework is for extra credit.
