Grade 5 Science

The following is a brief review of literature highlighting key points from articles related to the topic of moon phases and eclipses in the elementary science classroom. The articles range from ways to teach the phases of the moon to how the phases of the moon came about to the impact of the phases on curriculum as well as discussing student misconceptions related to the content.

1. The Moon's Phases and the Self Shadow by Timothy Young and Mark Guy

•    The overall purpose of this article is to help students understand “the phases of the moon and help them understand the distinction between that shadows that cause eclipses and the shadows that relate to the phases of the moon” (Young & Guy, 2008).         
  
• This article is focused on the idea of the self shadow
• Self shadow -“a shadow on the object blocking the light. It forms on the opposite side of the light source”
• Both the moon and the Earth receive light from the Sun, the largest star in the sky, which forms a shadow.
• Activities from the article:
• "Glow Moon Model"~use a Styrofoam ball and paint half using glow paint. Have students sit in a darkened room. You can demonstrate the orbit of the moon by having students move around the room in a counterclockwise formation. The students will be able to see all the phases of the moon. After the activity it is important that the teacher explains to the students that “glowing part of the sphere is the reflected sunlight and the part that is dark is the self-shadow” (Young & Guy, 2008)
• "Moon Ring"- The objective of this activity is “students will understand that the Moon phases occur only from the Earth’s perspective”.
• Paint half of eight Styrofoam balls black
• Place all eight balls in a ring on a table with the white side facing the same way, explaining that the Sun is shining from the white side of the balls
• Use the diagram from the article to show all the phases of the moon

• The overall purpose of this article is to discuss a survey given to students in sixth, eighth, and tenth grade to gain an understanding of what the students know about moon phases. This article also discusses the many misconceptions in science and that the phases of the moon is one of the most common concept areas where misconceptions occur for students. 
• The article discusses creating cognitive dissonance for students as well as what conceptual-change teaching is and how to use this concept in the classroom.
  

• This article discusses the MOON (Moon Observations of Nature) Project, which teachers all over the world came together to make possible. For this project students began by making observations about the moon for a two month period. Students recorded their observations and shared their findings with other students participating in the project around the world.
  
• Throughout the process of the MOON Project teachers introduced the terminology associated with the moon and moon phases.
  
• Incorporating literacy through the MOON Project was a goal of teachers. This was done through mandating students keep track of all their data, findings, and opinions through the duration of the project.
  
• This article includes samples of student writing, examples of worksheets students used to record their data, and a detailed explanation of the entire MOON Project from beginning to end.
  
• Not only did the MOON Project allow students to gain a better understanding of the moon and moon phases it also allowed both ELA and technology to become an important part of the science classroom. Students were able to communicate with students all over the world,opening the door for cultural education.
  

           4. Does the man in the moon ever sleep? An analysis of student answers about simple astronomical events: a

• The main focus of this article is to discuss common misconceptions students have about astronomy.
  
• The misconceptions that were focused on include: day and night, the dark side of the moon, the period in Earth days from sunrise to sunrise on the Moon, and start movements.
  
• The article surveyed 98 students, all age twelve.
  
• From the survey results, it is clear that most students have serious misconceptions about concepts surrounding the Moon.
  
• In the article, the author gives suggestions on ways of improving student understanding about Moon concepts as well as other astronomy concepts. The author suggests that teachers need to deliver their instruction in a more clear and concise way.
  
• Another reason the author believes students have a difficult time with the above concepts is due to the vocabulary used surrounding the topic. An example that she gave was surrounding the phase new moon. “The term ‘new Moon’ to an observer on Earth really means ‘no Moon’ because it cannot be seen from here” (Dove, 2002).
  

• This article also discusses misconceptions students have about astronomy, however this article is focused on students misconceptions about the size of the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon as well as the distance between each of the three.
  
• The students in this article were in an integrated math and science classroom at the middle-school level. The lesson provided in the article is integrating both disciplines.
  
• One of the most important factors in any lesson is to first assess the student's prior knowledge. This is done in this lesson by having the students draw the Sun, the Earth, and the Moon. However, the teacher does not mention that scale should be involved in their drawings. The teacher's goal was to see if the students could place the three in their correct positions and proportions. The final outcome was that some students were able to correctly place the Sun, Moon, and Earth, but none did it to scale.
  
• Next, the instructor asked the students to draw a full moon, showing how the light from the sun is reflected off the moon. The teacher told students that they should use rays to show the reflection. Students soon began to realize that this wasn't as easy as it sounded and began asking questions, leading to the teacher beginning her discussion on scale
• As the lesson proceeds more math and science concepts are introduced and students begin to make connections. 
  
• The lesson shown in this article can be easily modified to teach elementary students about the location of the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth as well as the distance between each and how the location and distance of each impacts the phases of the moon.