Phases of the moon seem pretty straight forward until you ask a child to explain what causes them. The problem with moon phases is that kids become good at saying the right words, but don’t actually see what those words mean. While I can play the motions of the Sun, Moon, and Earth out like a short movie in my mind, many students struggle to create this visual on their own.
While we often have students read, write, draw, or watch simulations about Moon phases, it is difficult for them to have a true visual-spatial understanding of this process. To solve this problem, I put together an activity that allows students to see how each phase happens and to physically move through the phases themselves. [Read more…]