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Easy Moon Landing Activities for Kids

January 15, 2024 By Emma Vanstone Leave a Comment

It’s hard to believe it’s over 50 years since astronauts first landed on the moon , and that the last time astronauts ventured as far as the Moon was 1972! The Moon landings were just the start of human space exploration. In 1971, the first space station was launched; in 1979, Pioneer 11 flew by Saturn; in 2005, a probe landed on Titan; and more recently, in 2023, OSIRIS-REx became the first US mission to collect a sample from the asteroid, Bennu. The clever spacecraft didn’t land but dropped the samples down to Earth before continuing on its next mission to collect samples from asteroid Apophis. 2024 is looking even more exciting with possible human moon landings from several countries around the world.

Here at Science Sparks, we love anything to do with space. My book, This IS Rocket Science features 70 space themed experiments and investigations as it takes readers on an adventure around the solar system. It’s a great starting point for learning about the difficulties involved in space travel and exploring some of the complexities of the solar system through fun, hands-on investigations.

This IS Rocket Science science book about space

Continuing with the excitement about moon landings , I’ve pulled together some simple moon and space travel based science activities for kids of all ages.

10 Moon Landing Activities for Kids

All the science activities and investigations listed below are simple to set up and encourage scientific thinking, problem-solving and teamwork.

Each activity is standalone or can be completed as part of a series of Moon themed investigations.

1. Moon craters and landing sites

When choosing a landing site, scientists need to understand the moon’s landscape. Lading at the South Pole is especially tricky as there are lots of craters and deep trenches.

Find out how craters form with a simple science demonstration using flour and cocoa powder.

a tray of flour and coca powder for learning how craters form

2. Take a virtual trip to the Moon

Use a brilliant interactive moon resource from NASA to find landing sites, explore the lunar surface, and even see inside the moon! We have loved playing with this. It’s a brilliant, fun way to learn more about the moon’s geography.

3. Launch a rocket

Build and test a mini bottle rocket! These shoot up with a bang, so always stand well back. This activity is great for learning about the forces involved in space travel and an introduction to Newton’s Laws of Motion .

To reach space, rockets must overcome gravity, which they do by creating a huge amount of thrust. In real life, the combustion of rocket fuel creates hot exhaust gases, which produce a downward force. The resultant reaction force creates an upward thrust force, propelling the rocket upwards.

In the case of this mini rocket, the baking soda and vinegar react together to produce carbon dioxide gas. The gas fills the bottle and eventually creates enough pressure to force the cork downwards. The resultant upward force pushes the rocket into the air! This is a brilliant example of Newton’s Third Law .

Instructions for a mini bottle rocket for learning about forces and motion

4. Learn about the phases of the Moon

My phases of the moon colouring sheet makes learning about moon phases easy!

5. Keep a log of the Moon

Keeping a log of how the Moon looks each night is another fun way to learn about the phases of the Moon.

6. Stargazing log book

You don’t need any fancy equipment to look at the night sky. On a clear night, you can see stars, constellations and planets easily.

Phone apps are great for identifying stars, planets, comets and the International Space Station. Night Sky is a great one to start with and is available on Apple and Android.

The free stargazing log book below is great for recording observations over time.

7. Map the moon

Create your own map of the moon with my handy template. This is a great research exercise. The NASA website has some great moon mapping resources that are a great starting point.

8. Build an egg parachute

Most space modules returning to Earth use a large parachute to slow their fall. Parachutes work by increasing air resistance, slowing the fall of the object attached to them.

A simple egg parachute is an easy way to demonstrate how increasing air resistance slows the fall of an object. Children can experiment with different sizes and shapes of parachutes to find out which works the best.

Egg drop parachute science investigation

9. Movement of planets and moons around the sun

Make a walking model of how moons orbit planets and plants orbit the sun. Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus proposed the theory of Heliocentrism around 1514 but didn’t publish his ideas until 1543. Copernicus’s theory was revolutionary at the time as people thought the Earth was the centre of the universe with the sun and planets revolving around it.

10. Katherine Johnson and NASA

Read about Katherine Johnson and her role at NASA . Katherine calculated the trajectory for the 1961 space flight of Alan Shepherd, and when computers were first used, it was Katherine who checked their calculations were correct!

Let me know if you have any more science activities about the moon for us to try!

Science concepts and curriculum links

Forces – pushes, pulls

Air resistance

Image of the moon and a DIY bottle rocket

Last Updated on January 15, 2024 by Emma Vanstone

Safety Notice

Science Sparks ( Wild Sparks Enterprises Ltd ) are not liable for the actions of activity of any person who uses the information in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources. Science Sparks assume no liability with regard to injuries or damage to property that may occur as a result of using the information and carrying out the practical activities contained in this resource or in any of the suggested further resources.

These activities are designed to be carried out by children working with a parent, guardian or other appropriate adult. The adult involved is fully responsible for ensuring that the activities are carried out safely.

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Apollo astronauts left trash, mementos and experiments on the moon.

50 years later, the experiments still teach us things and the trash needs to be preserved

LUNAR LEFTOVERS Astronauts, like those who touched down in the Apollo 15 lunar module (shown) in July 1971, left a lot on the moon’s surface, from scientific instruments to trash.

Special Report: Moonstruck

50 years after apollo 11, lunar science still surprises and delights.

This story is part of a special report celebrating humans’ enduring fascination with the moon and exploring the many ways it affects life on Earth. See all the articles, plus our 1969 coverage of Apollo 11, here .

When we think of Apollo’s 50-year legacy, most of us probably aren’t picturing the scattered remnants of astronaut outposts gathering space dust. But as nations plan new ventures to the moon, preservationists are fighting to protect these historic sites so that future lunar visitors don’t erase the marks of humans’ first steps beyond Earth.

Solving old mysteries

By December 1972, six Apollo crews had collectively spent nearly 80 hours exploring the moon’s surface ( SN: 12/23/72, p. 404 ). They gathered rocks, photographed the landscape and performed all manner of experiments — from unfurling metal foil to catch solar wind particles to setting off explosives and measuring the resulting seismic tremors.

Apollo 11 left behind solar-powered seismometers and a reflector array that could be paired with lasers on Earth to precisely measure the distance between Earth and the moon. On five later missions, Apollo 12 through 17 (Apollo 13 returned home without landing on the moon), astronauts left more elaborate setups powered by nuclear batteries that generated electricity through radioactive decay ( SN: 11/8/69, p. 434 ). Some of those instruments collected data through 1977, when NASA decided to focus on other projects and pulled the plug on the whole operation ( SN: 10/1/77, p. 213 ).

“There was this period of time where the data languished,” Petro says. But within the last decade or so, a new generation of scientists has taken up the torch, analyzing Apollo observations to answer questions lingering from early studies. Unfortunately, this isn’t nearly as simple as picking up where 1970s scientists left off, as geophysicist Seiichi Nagihara discovered when he set out to solve a decades-old puzzle about the moon’s underground temperature.

On Apollo 15 and 17, astronauts installed thermometers in the lunar surface, which took the moon’s temperature at various depths and sent the data back to Earth ( SN: 9/11/71, p. 167 ). When Apollo-era scientists reviewed data collected through 1974, the results revealed something odd: The moon’s temperature just beneath the surface appeared to be slowly rising.

“We’re talking about very minor warming,” just a couple degrees, says Nagihara, of Texas Tech University in Lubbock. But researchers at the time couldn’t figure out why. Nagihara decided to examine all the temperature data collected through 1977 to figure out what was going on. Unfortunately, the tapes that recorded these measurements were missing. This is a common problem, because during the Apollo era, data were housed at the individual labs of scientists working on each experiment and many measurements were never properly archived.

“A group of us decided to … try to hunt down the tapes,” Nagihara says. After scouring thousands of documents at NASA’s Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston, the researchers traced 440 tapes to an archive in Suitland, Md. But even those covered only about three months of observations. At the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Nagihara and colleagues discovered more temperature measurements noted by Apollo-era scientists in weekly memos. Between the recovered tapes and the memos, Nagihara’s team pieced together a picture of the moon’s temperature from 1971 through 1977.

The slow warming under the surface continued through the end of data collection , the researchers reported in April 2018 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets . In search of a source for the heat, Nagihara and colleagues turned to pictures taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been orbiting the moon since 2009 ( SN: 6/11/16, p. 10 ). The images showed that soil stirred up by astronaut activity was slightly darker than other lunar terrain. Perhaps it was dark enough to absorb more sunlight and warm the underlying ground.

Computer simulations confirmed that the moon wasn’t heating up from internal processes. Astronauts trekking around the Apollo sites probably caused an increase in surface temperature of about 2 to 3 degrees Celsius, and the extra heat slowly spread more than a meter into the ground — causing the gradual warming detected by Apollo instruments. Turns out that astronaut footsteps left marks on the moon far deeper than those iconic boot prints.

Keeping vigil over gravity

While Nagihara and other researchers are digging up old Apollo data for new analyses, one lone project is still in full swing: the laser ranging retroreflector experiment.

This experiment uses arrays of reflectors placed on the moon by Apollo 11, 14 and 15 astronauts and anchored on two rovers left behind by the Soviets ( SN: 5/20/78, p. 326 ). These arrays consist of special mirrors, each with three sides in the shape of a cube’s corner, which always reflect light in the exact direction from which it came. By shooting a laser beam at a corner-cube array from a telescope on Earth and clocking the time it takes for the light to return, researchers can measure the exact distance between different spots on the moon and Earth.

Laser ranging retroreflector measurements have offered several insights — like the fact that the moon is withdrawing from Earth at about 3.8 centimeters per year. Plus, slight variations in the moon’s rotation suggest that the orb has a relatively small core.

Still running

To measure the Earth-moon distance, arrays of “corner-cube” mirrors were set up at Apollo sites (top). Inside each circle (bottom left) is a corner cube that reflects laser light back to Earth in the exact direction it came from (illustrated, bottom right).

Physicist Tom Murphy of the University of California, San Diego is using the corner-cube arrays to probe a question much bigger than the moon. He’s testing whether a key part of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, called the equivalence principle, holds up.

The equivalence principle states that any two objects in the same gravitational field should fall at the same rate ( SN: 1/20/18, p. 9 ). Just like a bowling ball and a golf ball should hit the ground simultaneously, the Earth and moon should fall around the sun (that is, orbit the sun) at exactly the same rate. “You’re sensitive to any difference in how they’re [orbiting] the sun by measuring the distance between the Earth and moon as they weave around each other,” Murphy says. If the Earth-moon distance ultimately breaks with the equivalence principle, that would reveal a shortcoming of general relativity. And that, in turn, could inform the creation of a theory of quantum gravity that resolves the tension between general relativity and quantum mechanics ( SN: 10/17/15, p. 28 ).

So far, laser ranging retroreflector measurements with centimeter-level precision haven’t shown any difference in how quickly the Earth and moon are falling around the sun. But in 2006, Murphy started collecting data with millimeter-scale precision using improved laser technology and a larger telescope at the Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico.

Amassing enough data will require several more years of observation and researchers will need more sophisticated computer models to analyze the observations, Murphy says. Luckily, since the reflectors on the moon don’t require any power, he can collect data into the foreseeable future. Eventually, those observations — at the millimeter level or even smaller scales — could reveal a crack in the equivalence principle.

Since general relativity is fundamentally incompatible with quantum mechanics, something eventually has to give. The equivalence principle might be one of those things, Murphy says. “We have to turn over every rock and see where the bugs are.”

One astronaut’s trash

Thermometers and reflectors were among about a dozen types of instruments installed on the moon. Other devices measured the moon’s magnetic field and sniffed out chemical components of the moon’s tenuous atmosphere. NASA’s Lunar Data Project is restoring data from these and other Apollo experiments, so that scientists can continue to pore over the observations for years to come.

“When you have this incredibly rare resource, you can’t not keep working on it,” says planetary scientist Renee Weber of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., who studies lunar seismic data. “There are always new techniques to try” and better computer processing to tease out previously missed signals.

Based on moonquakes sensed by Apollo seismometers, Weber and colleagues reported in May that the moon may still be tectonically active , as revealed by young faults on the lunar surface called lobate scarps ( SN: 6/8/19, p. 7 ). Understanding moonquakes could help NASA and other agencies decide where to land future spacecraft or construct buildings on the moon, Weber says. If these lobate scarps truly mark sites of tectonic activity, future lunar visitors may want to avoid them, she says.

There’s also plenty to learn by testing how well the Apollo instruments, as well as the nonscientific paraphernalia strewn across the lunar surface, have held up. All of that stuff has been exposed to the lunar elements for decades. Future expeditions could sample the detritus to get a sense of how human communities might one day fare on the moon.

“Every single thing at the sites would be a completely priceless scientific investigation,” says planetary scientist Philip Metzger of the University of Central Florida in Orlando. He can imagine scrutinizing the effects of ultraviolet radiation, solar wind and other factors on everything from batteries to camera lenses to towels and earplugs.

Metzger sees value in everything left behind on the moon, including the astronauts’ discarded bags of excrement. “We have studies of microbes lasting in space over very short amounts of time on the International Space Station,” he says, but testing whether microbes in astronaut waste have survived or mutated over the last 50 years could help determine whether life is up to the challenge of hopping between planets or even solar systems. These are “really important questions about the position of life in the cosmos,” he says.

Protecting Apollo

While Metzger and other space scientists are hoping Apollo remnants can teach us more about how humans would fare on the moon, Beth O’Leary and other archaeologists are hoping to preserve these items as testaments to the human endeavor of getting there.

“Space is not a vacuum. We carry our culture into it,” says O’Leary, of New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. The remnants of Apollo sites are important relics of a singular time in human history. Astronaut memorials, messages of peace and commemorative plaques on the moon are obvious pieces of heritage. But “even the scientific stuff has cultural importance,” she says. More than 400,000 space-age Americans at over 20,000 companies and universities across the country teamed up to put Apollo astronauts on the moon. That kind of mass collaboration, in itself, was “a cultural act, as well as a scientific or engineering feat,” O’Leary says.

Unfortunately, securing legal protections for the historical preservation of Apollo sites isn’t easy. Don’t expect the United States to establish an Apollo National Park on the moon any time soon. As fun as that sounds, it would violate the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, which states that no nation can claim sovereignty over the moon’s surface.

NASA has published guidelines on how to avoid ruining Apollo artifacts in preparation for the many countries and companies that are vying for parking spots on the moon ( SN: 11/24/18, p. 14 ). This rulebook includes policies such as the distance a future lunar spacecraft should land from Apollo sites so that the rocket exhaust doesn’t wipe Neil Armstrong’s first boot print off the face of the moon. These guidelines aren’t legally binding, Metzger says, but “no company is going to want to be known as the company that ruined one of the Apollo sites.”

Michelle Hanlon, who specializes in space law at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, has her sights on a much broader agreement to protect Apollo sites. Her nonprofit, For All Moonkind, is seeking United Nations protections for relics on the moon. The U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space is “the ideal place to negotiate a new treaty on heritage in space,” Hanlon says, though she suspects it may take decades to reach such an international deal.

By then, many more people than professional astronauts may be walking the moon, fueling concerns about visitors making off with Apollo artifacts. In 2015, a lunar sample bag used by Armstrong was mistakenly sold at a government auction for $995 and later resold for $1.8 million. Other space-age memorabilia has sold for similarly astronomical prices.

“If NASA can lose [Armstrong’s] bag, how can they keep track of all the artifacts” once people begin making regular round trips to the moon? Hanlon asks. “You can imagine [looters] going up and just grabbing artifacts and bringing them back to sell.”

It’s not just Apollo artifacts Hanlon wants to see preserved. Earlier this year, China let the first rover loose on the farside of the moon ( SN: 2/2/19, p. 5 ), and Israel crash-landed its first spacecraft on the lunar surface ( SN Online: 4/11/19 ). “These are all wildly important milestones” in humankind’s quest to touch the stars that deserve to be preserved, Hanlon says.

The Webb telescope’s peek into a stellar nursery finds baby planets too

An Apollo 11 astronaut places a seismometer on the surface of the moon.

Moonquakes are much more common than thought, Apollo data suggest

An image of a rock on Mars taken by the NASA rover Perseverance. Rocky white stripes flank a clay-colored area that is speckled with dark spots.

NASA’s Perseverance rover finds its first possible hint of ancient life on Mars

An illustration of a planet with blue watery oceans, reddish land, and an atmosphere, seen from above

A planet needs to start with a lot of water to become like Earth

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot may be less than 200 years old

Sulfur was key to the first water on Earth

Sif Mons on Venus with recent lava flow (arrow)

Venus might be as volcanically active as Earth

A weaker magnetic field may have paved the way for marine life to go big

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Moon STEM Activities to Learn About the Moon

Categories STEM Activities

The moon is a fascinating subject for kids. Most kids love thinking about what the moon is like and why it changes shape throughout the month. Capture the natural curiosity of kids with these moon STEM activities!

This complete moon thematic unit focuses on activities for science, STEM, literacy, math, books about the moon, and moon crafts for kids. Kids will love completing the activities in this moon theme as well as the other STEM thematic units we have.

Learn all about the in these exciting moon activities perfect for a moon unit study! Kids will love learning about the moon with these ideas.

The activities in this moon STEM theme are designed for kids in elementary school, but many of the activities can also be modified for use in preschool or even at the toddler level. And some of the more advanced moon STEM projects can be adapted for middle school.

Kids will love learning about the moon with these hands-on projects and crafts!

Moon STEM Activities for Kids

Try these ideas to create a complete moon theme in your classroom, homeschool, daycare, or at home for fun!

Learn all about the moon with these moon STEM activities. ! Kids will love learning about the moon with these moon experiments.

Moon STEM Engineering Projects

These moon STEM challenges focus on the engineering and technology side of moon science.

Build a lunar buggy

Moon lander STEM challenge

Make a solar eclipse

Moon Experiments for Kids

Kids will love these moon science experiments.

How Moon Craters are Formed

Clay Moon Craters

How the Moon Gives Light

Moon rock experiment

Fizzing moon rocks

Moon Phases STEM Activities

These moon STEM activities are all about moon phases.

Phases of the Moon Viewer

Phases of the Moon Journal

Glow in the Dark Moon Phases Mobile

Moon Math Projects

These moon math projects bring the math part of STEM to life for kids!

$Learn all about the in these exciting moon activities perfect for a moon unit study! Kids will love learning about the moon with these ideas.$

Moon Crater Math

Moon Math Game

Astronaut 10-Frames

Moon Crater Counting

Moon Crafts for Kids

Kids will love making these science moon crafts!

Puffy Paint Moon

DIY Moon Sand

3D Styrofoam Moon

Sparkling Moon Dough

Aluminum Foil Moon

Books About the Moon

These are some of our favorite books for learning about the moon.

I Am the Moon: A Book About the Moon for Kids

Share this project with a friend!

Crafts , Education

29 Moon Crafts and Activities for Kids

By In The Playroom

June 10, 2014

There are so many ways to learn about the moon, from the scientific to the sensory, children of any age can make a start in learning about the moon!

I’ve gathered together 29 of my favourite moon activities, categorised by science activities, art and crafts, and sensory activities.

29 Fun and Engaging Moon Crafts and Ways to Learn about the Moon

Here’s a list of over 20 fun and hands on ways to learn about the moon, from moon phases, to craters, simple moon crafts to moon coloring pages.

Click the link alongside each picture for more information about that craft project or kids activity.

Moon Activities for Kids. Moon Craft, Moon themed Science Lessons, Moon Sensory Play and more

Play and learn all about the moon with these fun and educational Moon Crafts and Activities for Kids

Moon Phase Craft

Learn about moon phases with this beautiful hands on nature craft, thats fun to make and lovely to display

Free Printable Moon Phases Calendar 2023

Print out an annual moon phase calendar to study and understand more about how the lunar cycle works

Paper Plate Moon Phases For Kids

Learn about all of the moon phases of the lunar cycle, from the new moon, the full moon, the waxing and the waning, with this fun and educational paper plate moon phases craft from Little Bins for Little Hands.

Montessori-inspired phases of the moon activity with Oreos

Make learning fun and delicious with this hands on moon activity, using Oreos! Kids will love this Montessori inspired science lesson all about moon phases.

Giant Paper Mache Moon…

If you're going to make the moon, why not go BIG! Make a giant paper mache moon with this craft from Jacks and Kate. It is super impressive.

Crescent Moon Wall Hanging craft

Beautiful mindful crescent moon craft that's great for older kids to make, using all kinds of beads and shells

Sleepy Night time Moon Craft

The moon is getting ready for bed in this super cute preschool moon craft for kids

Moon Paper Plate Craft for Kids

Make this fast asleep paper plate crescent moon with a little star danging down in front, how sweet.

Fizzy Paint Moon Craft

Get your fizzy paint out and have fun with this sensory art project, with vibrant beautiful results

Moon and Bat Mobile - Printable Moon and Bat Craft

This moon and bat craft would work perfectly for Halloween, and you can download free printables over at Arty Crafty Kids, to make this project.

Moon Pinata DIY

A crescent moon pinata will be perfect for an Eid party - so much fun, and it looks great!

DIY Moon Phase Light Up Bunting

Make your own moon phase bunting, but to make it even cooler - it lights up! This moon phase project from Rainy Day Mum would also work as a Ramadan or Eid decoration idea.

Valentine's Climber

"I love you to the moon" - Make this super sweet moon craft from Red Ted Art featuring a photograph of your child. This will be a beautiful craft to keep for years to come, and it works very well as a card for children to give whether at Valentines day, or Mother's Day.

Fizzing Moon Rocks Activity

Make your own fizzing moon rocks for sensory science fun, to learn all about the moon!

Pom Pom Printed Moon Craft

Use pom poms to print the moon texture with paint, with this super simple and cute moon craft from Crafts on Sea

Soda Bottle Rocket Kids Craft

Fly to the moon with this recycled plastic soda bottle craft from us here at In The Playroom

Space and Astronauts Colouring Pages for Kids (Free Printable)

Print out our free astronauts, space and moon coloring pages to go perfectly with your moon topic.

Easiest Crescent Moon Theme DIY Eid Card

This super simple crescent moon card works perfectly as an Eid card to make for loved ones at the end of Ramadan

The Great Big Moon Craft

Even toddlers can have fun making this great big moon craft

Design a moon rover

Make your own moon rover out of lego with this fun and hands on educational play idea

FREE Printable Moon Phase Cards and Journal for Kids

These free printable moon phase cards and moon phase journal from Rainy Day Mum give kids the chance to track to moons cycles and get familiar with the phases of the moon.

Learn About the Moon | Making Moon Bread with Kids

Make your own moon bread for a delicious way to learn about the moon

Moon Preschool Theme

Get preschoolers learning about the moon, for a space topic or moon unit.

Lunar Landscape Sensory Small World Play

Make your own lunar landscape for lots of sensory play and small world fun, with the idea from the Imagination Tree

Moon Dough Messy Play

You can also get store bought moon dough which has lots of opportunities for sensory play and exploration of textures.

Make Your Own Moon Sand – Aka Moldable Mess!

Or make your own moon sand, with a simple recipe from Kids Activities Blog

Puffy Paint Moon Craft

Get out the puffy paint and make your own simple moon craft with lots of texture.

Phases of the Moon Mobile

This phases of the moon mobile craft can be hung up and displayed in the playroom, classroom or school room after you have finished putting it together with the kids.

Moon Painting

Expore the texture of the moon surface with this fun and hands on moon painting idea, for even the youngest of kids.

Use a dropper to explore color and texture

CD Mosaic Moon Craft

Use an old CD to create your own shiny sparkly crescent moon craft

Simple Science Experiment for Kids: Why are there craters on the moon?

Learn why there are craters on the moon with this engaging space themed science experiment for kids.

DIY Phases of the Moon Shirt

If your kids are excited about moon phases, you can even make uyour own moon phase shirt with this tutorial from Raegun Ramblings. Perfect to wear to the science fair or science museum!

National Moon Day

When is Moon Day? Moon Day is on July 20th every year to commemorate and honour the anniversary of mankind’s first moon landing.

“That’s one small step for man, a giant leap for mankind.”

Neil Armstrong and his Apollo 11 team first landed on the moon 20th July 1969. Commander Neil Armstrong and Lunar Modular pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module Eagle on the moon, before Neil Armstrong spent a total of 21 hours on the moon’s surface.

Science activities to learn about the Moon

Try some simple science experiments to learn about the moon, look up into the sky and observe it yourself together with the kids with a moon phase viewer, or visit a space centre, observatory or science museum together.

The moon is a great topic and source of inspiration for your next science project!

Try this Phases of the moon experiment from We Made That

Make a Moon phase viewer with instructions from What Do We Do All Day

Phases of the moon puzzle from What Do We Do All Day

Moon themed Art & Crafts

There are so many creative moon projects you can put together with the kids. Have fun painting, sticking, cutting and decorating as you make your own moons – from crescent moon to full moon, or the entire solar system.

With paper plates, glue, even tin foil – get your little students busy making moon crafts.

Moon Painting from Mama Papa Bubba

Phases of the moon mobile from Creative Family Fun

Puffy paint moon from No Time for Flashcards

Moon Themed Sensory Activities

Sensory activities offer so much fun for your little outer space explorer! Kids can learn and play in a hands on way, exploring textures and all five of their senses.

Space in a bowl from Building Blocks and Acorns

Make your own moon sand from Kids Activities Blog

Messy play with moon dough here at In The Playroom

Lunar landscape sensory small world from The Imagination Tree

Books about the Moon

Whether you want to enjoy a preschool story book about the moon, or an educational fact book about the moon, and an introduction to astronomy there are so many options available for kids of all ages. Here are a couple to get you started.

Do You Speak English Moon by Francesca Simon

Share and Follow

Share these moon crafts and activities with other parents and educators, or pin to your Pinterest Boards.

Fun activities to learn about the moon. Moon Science, moon crafts and moon themed sensory activities

For more educational activities, follow our Pinterest board:

In The Playroom

Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables. Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.

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Belvoir elderflower cordial and baking set giveaway, 13 thoughts on “29 moon crafts and activities for kids”.

I love the landscape box from the Imagination tree – my kids love contained play areas like that, they’re so much fun 🙂

Great post! I love looking up into the night sky (I even caught sight of the ISS a couple of months ago) and I think children should learn all about what’s out there too 🙂

This is a great post, full of good ideas, that I am going to have to borrow 🙂

The lunar landscape looks amazing! Will have to give it a go x Thanks for sharing these, I can see we will be having lots of fun learning about the moon 🙂 x

I pinned this to my science board for later. I haven’t read Do You Speak English, Moon? yet. I’ll have to check it out soon!

thanks for the pin! 🙂

Thanks for including our ‘space in a bowl’ activity from http://www.buildingblocksandacorns.com ! What a great collection of Moon activities!

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The Greatest Physics Demo of All Time Happened on the Moon

astronaut on the moon in apollo 15 mission

Stuff falls all the time. Maybe you’ve dropped a ball. Perhaps that cup of coffee slipped out of your hands. The mostly likely situation is that a cat decided to knock an object off a table—because that's what cats do.

And for as long as things have been falling, people have had questions about what is going on (and about the cat's motivation). Does a falling object move at a constant speed, or does it speed up? If you drop a heavy object and a light one at the same time, which will fall faster?

The great thing about these two questions is that you can ask pretty much anyone and they will have an answer—even if they are actually wrong. The even greater thing is that it's fairly simple to determine the answers experimentally. All you have to do is drop some stuff.

Some of the earliest explanations for what happens when you drop things go all the way back to Aristotle (around 350 BC), who was interested in explaining how the world works. Aristotle's answers were quite simple: If you let go of something, it will fall toward the ground. It will fall at a constant speed. If you drop two objects at the same time, the heavier one will move downward with a greater speed than the lighter one. That's it. And really, this seems like it could be true. I mean, if I drop a rock and a feather, it seems clear that the rock will hit the ground first.

But there is a problem. There's not an experiment to check if this is correct. Aristotle was a philosopher, not a scientist, and like most of the other Greek philosophers of his time, he was into thought experiments, not science experiments. (The Greeks knew that there couldn't be a perfect experiment, because some error would always be introduced into the data. They thought that seeking imperfect real-world evidence would just push them off the path of determining the ultimate truths of the universe through logic and reasoning.)

Aristotle's reasoning for this kind of motion actually makes sense. We can all agree that if you push something, it will move. The greater the pushing force, the more it will move—that means it would go faster. That makes sense, right? And if you hold a rock and a feather, the gravitational force on the rock is clearly greater. You can just feel that force when you lift the two objects up to compare them. There's no mystery there. So if the rock has a greater downward-pulling force, then it will have a greater downward falling velocity. If you drop a rock and a feather, the rock will hit the ground first. See? Physics isn't that hard.

Well, even though this explanation makes sense, it is indeed wrong. Really, the only thing that is correct is that normally a rock will hit the ground before a feather.

To understand why, let's start with the most basic idea—the relationship between force and motion. Most people call this Newton's second law, but if you go with “force-motion model,” that would be cool too. For movement in one dimension (like with a falling object), we can write this as:

The Best Compact Cameras That Really Fit in Your Pocket

This says that the total force on an object (F net ) is equal to the product of the object's mass (m) and the acceleration (a).

But what is the acceleration? In short, this is a value that describes how the velocity changes. So, an acceleration of 0 meters per second per second means that the velocity won't change. An acceleration of 10 m/s 2 means that in 1 second, the object's velocity will increase by 10 meters per second. The important thing is that forces change the velocity of an object. If something has a greater force, it doesn't move faster. It changes more . Change is the key.

There's a small problem, though. When you drop a rock from shoulder height above the ground, it will only take about half a second to fall. That's not very much time—certainly not enough for a person to determine that it's speeding up. It just looks like it falls very fast. In fact, the human eye is pretty good at detecting if something moves, but not so great at judging changes in speed. (Check out this awesome video from Veritasium on how humans track objects.) So it's hard to fault anyone (like Aristotle) for saying things fall at a constant speed. It really does look that way to the naked eye.

OK, but what about dropping a rock and feather—doesn't the rock hit first? Usually, the answer is yes. But let's replace the rock with a hammer and then just take a change of scenery and move the experiment to the moon. This is exactly what happened during the Apollo 15 lunar mission in 1971 . Commander David Scott took a hammer and an eagle feather and dropped them onto the lunar regolith. Here's what happened:

The feather and the hammer hit the ground at the same time.

Why did it happen? First, it is indeed true that even on the moon there is a greater gravitational force on the hammer than the feather. We can calculate this gravitational force as the product of mass (m in kilograms) and the gravitational field (g in newtons per kilogram). On the surface of the moon, the gravitational field has a value of 1.6 N/kg. If you put this expression in for the net force on a falling object, it looks like this:

Net force equals negative mass times gravity equals mass times acceleration. a equals negative gravity.

Since both the gravitational force and the acceleration depend on the same mass, it's on both sides of the equation and cancels. That leaves an acceleration of -g. The hammer and the feather fall down with identical motions and hit the ground at the same time. Honestly, I'm just a little sad that the astronauts didn't use one of the higher-quality film cameras instead of a TV camera—but that's just me.

So, what's different about dropping something on the moon versus on Earth? Yes, there is a different gravitational weight on the moon—but that's not the issue. It's the lack of air that makes the difference. Remember that Newton's second law is a relationship between the net force and the acceleration. If you drop a feather on the surface of the Earth, there are two forces acting on it. First, there is the downward-pulling gravitational force that is equal to the product of mass and the gravitational field. Second, there is an upward-pushing force due to the interaction with the air, which we often call air drag . This air drag force depends on several things, but the important ones are the object's speed and the size of the object.

Let's look at a simple example. Suppose the feather has a mass of 0.01 kilograms. This would give it a downward gravitational force of 0.098 newtons. Now imagine the feather is moving downward with a velocity of 1 meter per second, and this produces an upward air drag force of 0.04 newtons. This means that the net force would be 0.04 N - 0.098 N = -0.058 N. That would give a downward acceleration of 5.8 m/s 2 compared to an object without air resistance, which would have an acceleration of 9.8 m/s 2 .

Yes, a falling rock also has an upward-pushing air drag force. If it was the same size as the feather and moving at the same speed, it would have the same upward drag force of 0.04 N. However, if it has a mass of 1 kilogram, then its downward gravitational force would be 9.8 newtons. The net force would be 9.4 N, to produce an acceleration of 9.4 m/s 2 . Because of the rock's larger mass, it would have a much greater acceleration and it would hit the ground first—at least on Earth.

Do heavier objects always hit the ground before lighter ones? Nope. Here are some simple experiments you can do at home to show that Aristotle was wrong. (Bonus: You don't even need to go to the moon to do them.)

The first experiment uses two sheets of paper—just plain paper that you can get from your printer. If the pieces are identical, then they have the same mass and the same downward gravitational force. Now take just one of those sheets and crumple it up into a ball. This decreases the size of the object, but not its mass. When you drop the normal paper and the crumpled paper, which one will hit the ground first?

Oh, you don't have any paper with you? Fine, here is what that looks like:

You can see that the crumpled paper hits first—even though the two pieces have the exact same mass. Right there, Aristotle is busted.

But wait, here’s another experiment. This one requires more complicated objects. See if you can get something with a large surface area but a low mass. For example, I have a piece of cardboard and a tiny piece of chalk. The cardboard is indeed more massive (100 grams vs. 1 gram for the chalk). But if I drop them, which will hit the ground first? Let's find out.

Check that out. Thanks to air resistance, the more massive cardboard hits after the chalk.

Again, Aristotle was wrong. (And if you repeated both of those comparison drops on the moon, where there isn't air resistance, the objects would hit the surface at the same time.)

Did we really have to go all the way to the moon to show how things fall? Of course not. But it's still one of the coolest physics demos I've ever seen. I can't wait for a repeat the next time there's an astronaut on the moon . Hopefully, this time they will use a better video camera.

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21 Super Activities for Teaching Moon Phases

Teaching the phases of the moon just got a little easier. Here are 21 super moon phases activities and resources including a few printables, a song and videos. I hope these can help you teach phases of the moon for kids in meaningful ways!

Have you seen? The Teach Junkie physical science section is growing in numbers of pictured tutorials with free lesson plans for how to teach science so you can always search there if you’re looking for something different. {wink}

Phases of the Moon Songs

1. Moon Song – The moon is what this entire song is about. You’ll love that it hits vocabulary like new moon, the names of all of the phases and that it will help you teach effectively!

Moon Phase Printables for Teachers

21 Super Activities for Teaching Moon Phases - Lunar Yahtzee - Teach Junkie

5. Phases of the Moon Game – Take your lunar learning and turn it into a fun game of Yahtzee! You’ll love the repeated practice hidden in this game.

21 Super Activities for Teaching Moon Phases - Emergent Reader - Teach Junkie

6. My Moon Book – Here is emergent reader with 2 versions that is perfect for first or second grade. One is about the moon and the other is about the phases of the moon to print in black and white.

21 Super Activities for Teaching Moon Phases - Mini Unit - Teach Junkie

7. I See the Moon – Here is a 29 page mini-unit that is free. It contains a graphic organizer, phase cards and poster along with a journal and craft.

21 Super Activities for Teaching Moon Phases - Foldable Phases of the Moon - Teach Junkie

8. Foldable Phases of the Moon – You’ll love how to take an interactive activity that gets kids acting out the phases of the moon and extend it by creating a foldable to accompany your science notebooks.

21 Super Activities for Teaching Moon Phases - Moon Black Foldable

9. Moon Black Foldable – Here are some great read alouds to accompany a primary study of the moon phases for kids along with a foldable using black and yellow construction paper.

Creating Books About the Moon

21 Super Activities for Teaching Moon Phases - Moon Phases Mini Book - Teach Junkie

10. Moon Phases Mini Book – Students write words to describe the new moon, crescent moon, quarter moon and so on.

11. Flip Book – Here is how you can create a flip book (flip it upside down to finish reading) that has some text and uses black circle cutouts to create the moon phases.

Teaching Phases of the Moon

21 Super Activities for Teaching Moon Phases - Anchor Chart Moon - Teach Junkie

12. Anchor Chart Moon – Use a diagram of the Earth, sun and moon to keep around for reference as students work.

13. Night Comes – Here is a poem that makes a great addition to learning about the phases of the moon for kids. Jot down this poem onto a large chart paper to accompany your classroom physical science displays.

21 Super Activities for Teaching Moon Phases - Chalk Art Moon Phases - Teach Junkie

14. Chalk Art Moon Phases – Create a chalk art version to illustrate the moon using black construction paper and white chalk.

15. Paper Plate Moon Phases – Sandwich 8 circle pieces of paper (cut into circles with a handle) in between 2 paper plates. Add labels and students could even add their own text as a shape book for writer’s workshop.

21 Super Activities for Teaching Moon Phases - Moon Phases Board - Teach Junkie

16. Moon Phases Board – Put students in the place of the Earth so that they can literally view the way the moon changes as it orbits the Earth.

21 Super Activities for Teaching Moon Phases - Oreo Moon Phases - Teach Junkie

17. Oreo Cookie Moon Phases – Eating their way through the phases of the moon in oreos just makes the perfect hook to get kids into learning science.

21 Super Activities for Teaching Moon Phases - DIY Moon Phase Puzzle

18. DIY Moon Phase Puzzle – Create a long puzzle for students to explore matching phases with the correct shapes and putting them in the correct order.

Online Resources for Moon Phases

21 Super Activities for Teaching Moon Phases - Moon Phases Calendar - Teach Junkie

19. Moon Phases Calendar – Here is a website resource that you will love to show the moon phases in a calendar month to make observations and analyze patterns of the phases. A great alternative to sending home a calendar for students to fill out.

20. Interactive Games and Activities – You’ll find a helpful list of 12 more videos, resources and downloads that will help round out your lunar explorations.

21 Super Activities for Teaching Moon Phases - Moon Match - Teach Junkie

21. Moon Match – Here’s a digital version of the moon phase puzzle above. Students order and label in an online interactive moon match game.

I hope you found these super resources and lesson ideas to be helpful in planning out your science lesson plans. Thanks talented teachers – your printables and lessons are great!

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the Teach Junkie Facebook page . It’s a great place to ask questions on how to make things or for specific lesson ideas/collections that you are looking for. I’ll be happy to find them for you!

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More science.

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Teach Junkie

Leslie {aka the original Teach Junkie} loves learning new things to make teaching easier and more effective. She enjoys featuring creative classroom fun when she's not designing teacher shirts, making kindergarten lesson plans or planning her family's next trip to Disney World.

6 Proven Moon Phase Activities to Engage your Students

By the time students get to sixth grade, they have been introduced to the concept of lunar phases. But most students often lack a real understanding of WHY and HOW the moon goes through these phases. Hands-on activities are a fantastic way to improve your lessons, engage your students, and help them better understand the science behind the phenomenon. If you’re struggling to find projects to complement your lessons, read on because you and your students are going to love choosing a phases of the moon activity from this list for upper elementary and middle school!

This post contains affiliate links.

Classroom Activities for Teaching About Lunar Phases

Observation is a powerful skill to develop in students. And observing moon phases helps to strengthen their understanding of cause and effect. Here are a few of my favorite moon phase activities to help your students dive deeper and understand why we see the different phases of the moon.

1. MOON MODELS

Moon models are a great way for students to explore and make connections with the moon and its phases! This is often one of the first activities I do when teaching about this topic.

Bonus! It’s also a great way to pre-assess and see how much they really know!

Materials You’ll Need:

A moon model is quick and easy to make using only:

a 2-inch Styrofoam ball ,
and a skewer or durable plastic stick .

How It Works

Once students have their moon models, place a lamp in the center of the room. I like to take the lampshade off of mine to be sure the light they are getting is direct.

Turn out the lights and spread out the students around the lamp – be careful no one is blocking their light and creating an eclipse!

Tell the students they will be using their head as the ”observer on Earth” and lamp as the sun.

Add Some Challenges!

Here are a few ideas:

Can you simulate the phases of the moon?
Where would the moon be in order for the observer to see a full moon?
Where would the moon be in order for the observer to see a new moon?
How would you position yourself so that the observer sees a first quarter moon?
How would you position yourself so that the observer sees a 3rd quarter moon?
Does the moon make its own light? Explain.

2. LUNAR PHASE STORYBOARD ACTIVITY

Sometimes I feel like so many of our students are getting burned out with the constant use of technology. Especially this year!

In this project, students read short descriptions about the phases of the moon. Then, they create and label a scientific diagram to summarize what they read.

This storyboard activity is a great way to reinforce and assess the phases of the moon with a creative twist!

3. VOLLEYBALL MOON PHASE ACTIVITY

The volleyball moon activity is a quick and easy way to demonstrate how the moon’s position, relative to the Earth, affects the phase we see.

This is especially good to do after students have learned to identify the phases of the moon.

Materials You’ll Need:

volleyball (from the PE department….),
strong light source, such as a spotlight or old fashioned overhead projector

How It Works:

The set up for this is simple. Place the volleyball on one end of the room. Shine the bright light on the ball.

Turn off the lights and go around the room asking students to identify the phase of the moon they see from where they’re sitting.

Because the students are seated in different areas of the room, they are viewing different amounts of the volleyball being lit up. For example, one student may see a full moon, while another sees a first quarter or a waxing crescent. Don’t forget to have a student observe the ball from a new moon position!

This quick simulation sets up for a great discussion of “who’s right?” (or wrong) since we all came up with different answers! Hint : This makes a great writing activity!

After the volleyball demonstration, students are able to easily make the connection that the moon’s position affects the phase of the moon we see from Earth.

4. NORTH POLAR VIEW PHASES OF THE MOON WORKSHEET

While not flashy, the north-polar view model is one of the best lunar-phase activities to REALLY help students understand the relationship between what we see from Earth and how the moon is positioned in the sky.

I am a huge fan of students adding a concrete, written explanation to hands-on activities. The north-polar view diagram is one of the best ways I’ve found to really drive home the understanding of the phases of the moon!

5. INTERACTIVE MOON MODEL

The moon model is a huge “aha moment” for both teachers and students alike!

Honestly, I’ve had teachers share that this is the first time they “truly understood” why we see the phases of the moon.

Black, sturdy poster board
Black spray paint OR black Sharpie marker
8 Ping pong balls
Hot glue gun

The moon model is so simple and inexpensive to make:

Cut a hole in the middle of a black, sturdy poster board. The hole should be big enough for a student to poke their head through.
Spray paint or use a black Sharpie marker to color 8 ping pong balls so that they are half black and half white.
Glue them to the board around the circle (hot glue works well!). The white side of the ping pong balls should be facing the “sun.”
Label the direction the sun is coming from on the board.

How It Works

Students take turns putting their head through the hole and rotating the board counter clockwise to see the phases of the moon.

Extend the Learning with These Ideas

Students can make a flip grid video to explain how to use the moon model and how it works.
Number the different phases with sticky notes (out of order) and have students work with partners to identify the different phases they see.

Moon Phases, Eclipses and Tides Task Cards

6. MOON PHASE TASK CARDS

Task cards are one of my favorite tools to reinforce learning about a specific topic. These phases of the moon task cards are a great way to add some extra practice or review in the classroom.

Take a look at this blog post filled with ideas to make task cards fun in the middle school classroom.

FREE COLOR BY NUMBER

Grab the free moon phase color by number, your inbox is going to love us.

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Take your Moon Phase Investigation to the Next Level!

Save time with this moon phase bundle ! Everything you need to teach moon phases is included in this bundle plus save 20%!

Presentation & Foldable
Practice Worksheets
North Polar View
Task Cards (digital and print)
Storyboard Activity

Here’s what teachers like you are saying:

My students were engaged during our lessons with this resource. They were able to gain new information without me having to interpret what was said…. always a bonus! Lynn O. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

My students were very engaged and we had lots of discussion. The slides were exactly what I was looking for to aid in teaching/class discussion. I loved the differentiated notes option as my students are on all different levels of ability. Beverly C. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Need some virtual activities? Check out this post “5 Virtual Moon Phase Activities” Your Students Will Love.”

Moon phases posters.

Posters are a great way to visually reinforce the moon phases activities I’ve listed above. Here are a few excellent ones for you to consider adding to your classroom walls.

Set of 9 Laminated Moon Phases Charts

A classroom poster for teaching about moon phases.

Moon Phases – Classroom Science Poster

Pyramid America Laminated Phases of The Moon Space Lunar NASA Poster Dry Erase Sign 12×18

Classroom poster for studying the lunar phases.

20 Inch by 30 Inch Laminated Poster With Bright Colors And Vivid Imagery

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6 simple astronomy experiments you can do at home

Try our experiments using household items and illustrate the mechanics of the Solar System.

Michael Moltenbrey

Why can we observe solar eclipses? How did craters form on the Moon? Why do we have seasons on Earth? Questions like these are often asked by new astronomers, but answering them can be a bit tricky.

How do you explain abstract situations where several bodies are moving around and affecting each other?

Well, it’s easier than you think!

These six experiments will help illuminate some of the complex principles of space science for the young… and the young at heart.

Great for kids at home and easy for high school science students.

For more advice, try our simple space and astronomy activities and read our guides on stargazing for kids and the best telescopes for kids .

Demonstrate how craters form on the Moon

When making a Moon crater, the underlying white flour shows up well against the darker cocoa powder surface. Credit: Mary McIntyre

You will need: a basin, some flour, cocoa and pebbles or marbles of varying sizes.

Have you ever enjoyed a view of the Moon? Its scarred surface is dominated by large basins and craters of varying size and shape.

But how did these craters form and why are some of them deeper or longer than others?

The following experiment will show you what has been happening to the Moon’s surface over millions of years.

Left: The ‘Moon’ hangs in space, undisturbed for centuries as it orbits Earth. Centre: A meteorite strikes the surface, scattering debris. Right: The meteorite shatters on impact, leaving a crater as evidence of its arrival. Credit: Michael Moltenbrey

Fill the basin with flour about 2-3cm deep. Then, sprinkle some cocoa on the surface. The cocoa is just there to help the crater stand out, so any dark power will do.

Find a floor or table that’s easy to clean up and set down your basin. Then, drop your pebble into the flour. Congratulations – you’ve created your first crater!

Trying changing the speed of the pebble by dropping it from different heights, or see if you can gently throw it in from an angle (careful though, you don’t want to splash flour all over the floor). By doing so you can see how the angle and speed of impact affect the shape of the crater.

Throw a handful of smaller pebbles in with a bit of a swing and you can even create impact crater chains that resemble those on the Moon.

Measure the size of the Sun and Moon

Moon, Earth and the Sun. Credit: FreelanceImages/Universal Images Group/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

You will need: a shoebox, some aluminium foil, sticky tape, a sheet of white paper, a ruler and a pin or needle.

Although The Sun is nearly 150 million km away from us and huge, you can measure its size from your living room.

You’re going to build a simple pinhole camera . Cut a 2x2cm square out of the centre of one of the short sides of the shoebox. Place the aluminium foil over the cut-out and tape it down.

Then, use the pin or needle to pierce the foil. Line the inside of the opposite end of the box with the white paper.

With some slight alteration, a shoebox becomes an astronomical device. Credit: Michael Moltenbrey

You now have a pinhole camera. Measure the length of the box, from the hole to the sheet of paper.

Point the foil-covered front end towards the Sun, being careful to never look directly at it!

An image of the Sun will appear on the piece of paper and you can measure it with a ruler. With that measurement and a bit of simple maths, you can calculate the Sun’s diameter:

Diameter of Sun = size of image ÷ length of box x 149,600,000km

As 149,600,000km is the distance to the Sun and the ratio of size to distance from the hole is the same for both, this should give you a decent estimate of the Sun’s size.

You can use the same method for the Moon, but replace the number at the end with 384,000km.

Check your result when you’ve finished to see how close you are. The bigger the box, the more accurate you’ll be.

Show how spinning changes the shape of planets

You will need: a stick, some card, scissors, a ruler, glue and a pair of compasses.

Planets are not perfect spheres. They bulge out at the equator and flatten at their poles. The bigger the planet, the bigger the effect.

Planets are deformed this way because they spin, and this experiment will show you how.

First you need to build a model planet. Cut out three discs from the card – two need to be 4cm in diameter (we’ll call those A and B) and one should be 3cm in diameter (called C).

Planets turn into oblate spheroids by spinning. Credit: Michael Moltenbrey

Next, make a hole in discs A and C just big enough for them to sit firmly on the stick. Then make a larger hole into B so that it can easily slide up and down the stick.

Now cut out eight strips of the card (each about 1.25x30cm). Glue one end of each strip around the edge of disc A so that it looks like spider.Then put it on the stick.

Next fix C on the stick about 15cm away from A as a reference point.

Finally, put B on the stick beneath C and glue the ends of the strips around its edge so that it looks like the model planet on the right.

Ensure that B can easily move along the stick.

Now, hold the stick between your hands and spin it.

Try changing how fast you spin the stick and see what happens. You should find the faster you spin the stick the more the ‘planet’ bulges.

Measure the size of the Solar System

The colours of the Solar System planets and what causes them. Credit: Eucyln / Getty Images

You will need: cardboard, a pair of compasses and a roll of toilet paper.

The sizes of the planets in our Solar System and the distances between them can be hard to grasp, but this experiment will help you put things into perspective.

Start by drawing circles on pieces of card using the scale radii in the table below to make your planets (remember to label them as you go).

As a starting point we’ve given Earth a radius of 1cm and left out the Sun, as it would be 2.2m wide at this scale!

To represent the distances between planets we’ll use the toilet paper, as it is conveniently separated into sheets of the same size.

This time we say that one sheet is equal to the distance to Mercury. Unfortunately, this is a different scale to the planet sizes – if they were on the same scale, Neptune would be 7km away!

Then roll out the toilet paper and count the sheets until you reach the relevant number and put a planet on it. Isn’t it impressive how much space there is in between?

And that’s not even the whole Solar System. If you wanted to incorporate the Oort Cloud into this model, you’d need about 250,000 sheets of toilet paper.

Find out more in our guide on how to make a scale model of the Solar System .

Show why Earth has seasons

Earth’s tilt affects how much direct light we receive from the Sun, which causes the yearly cycle of the seasons

You will need: a lamp (for the Sun), an orange (for Earth) and a stick.

We have four seasons on Earth due to the inclination of the Earth’s rotational axis. But why does the tilt affect the weather?

Skewer the orange onto the stick, then draw around the equator of the orange. Like in the eclipse experiment, find a dark room and hold the orange up to the light so that half of it is illuminated.

Instead of holding the stick so it’s vertical, tilt it so that it’s at roughly the same angle as the Earth’s rotational axis, which is 23.5°.

The differences between our seasons are caused by just a few degrees of slant. Credit: Michael Moltenbrey

Now take a closer look at how that angle affects Earth’s exposure to the Sun. At point A the top of the stick is tipped towards the lamp.

There’s more sunlight shining on the northern hemisphere, which in turn receives more energy and warms up. The north is experiencing summer, while in the south it is winter.

We have exactly the opposite situation when our Earth is on the other side of the lamp (at point C). At B and D the stick is neither pointing away nor towards the lamp – both hemisphere’s are lit by the same amount. These points are spring and autumn.

It’s worth noting that this experiment works much better with a lamp that’s designed to light in all directions, rather than one that’s directional, such as a desk lamp.

Show why eclipses happen

You will need: a lamp, a smaller ball (for the Moon) and a larger ball (for Earth).

One of the most amazing astronomical observations we can witness is a solar eclipse. But how do they happen?

As the Moon orbits our planet, sometimes it passes between Earth and the Sun, casting a shadow.This experiment shows you how that works.

Find a dark room and switch on the lamp, then place ‘Earth’ a few metres away so that half of it is in the light. Hold the ‘Moon’ about 20cm above the lit side of the ‘Earth’ so it casts a shadow on the surface.

It’ll only be a small shadow, which explains why a solar eclipse can only be seen within a small corridor on Earth determined by the size of the shadow and the rotation of our planet.

You can use the same method for visualising lunar eclipses. For this, the ‘Sun’, ‘Earth’ and ‘Moon’ need to be in alignment so Earth’s shadow is cast on the Moon, producing a lunar eclipse .

A solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes in front of the Sun. Credit: Greg Meyer

You can vary this experiment further: what if the ‘Moon’ doesn’t fully block out the Sun, or if Earth’s shadow isn’t completely thrown upon the lunar disc?

These experiments show what happens during a partial eclipse, when the shadow falls just beyond the edges of a planet.

This article originally appeared in the January 2016 issue of BBC Sky at Night Magazine .

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Gilla:		Dela:

1 cube-shaped cardboard box
1 flashlight or table lamp
1 white spun cotton ball (preferably quite large)
1 paper clip
Sewing thread
Decoration material (optional)

Short explanation

Long explanation.

What would happen to the lunar phases if the Moon's orbit around Earth was twice as fast?
What would happen to the lunar phases if the Moon stopped in its orbit around Earth.

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Note: A new version of the Impact Craters activity can be found here: Impact Craters – NASA . Lessons/Activities: Moon ABCs Fact Sheet Rock ABCs Fact Sheet Progress in Lunar Science Nearside of the Moon – Apollo Landing Sites Distance to the Moon Diameter of the Moon Reaping Rocks The Lunar Disk Apollo Landing Sites Regolith Formation Lunar Surface Differentiation Clay Lava Flows Lava Layering Lunar Landing Sites Lunar Roving Vehicle Moon Anomalies Lunar Land Use Life Support Systems Lunar Biospheres

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Why We’re Unique

Phases of the Moon

Introduction: (initial observation).

Phases of the moon has always been a question for me. I think we always (usually) see the moon at nights, so the earth should be between the moon and sun and as a result we should see full moon. I hope this project will help me to discover the details about this phenomena.

This project guide contains information that you need in order to start your project. If you have any questions or need more support about this project, click on the “Ask Question” button on the top of this page to send me a message.

If you are new in doing science project, click on “How to Start” in the main page. There you will find helpful links that describe different types of science projects, scientific method, variables, hypothesis, graph, abstract and all other general basics that you need to know.

Project advisor

Information Gathering:

Find out about the conditions causing different phases of the moon.. Read books, magazines or ask professionals who might know in order to learn about the moon and it’s phases. Keep track of where you got your information from.

If you would like to search the internet, search for “phases of the moon”.

Samples of gathered information:

http://astrosun.tn.cornell.edu/courses/astro201/moon_phase_pict.htm

From http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question3.html

The Moon Earth at an average distance of 382,400 . The lunar month is the 29.53 days it takes to go from one new moon to the next. During the lunar month, the Moon goes through all its phases. You can see the phases drawn in the image below. Just like the Earth, half of the Moon is lit by the Sun while the other half is in darkness. The phases we see result from the angle the Moon makes with the Sun as viewed from Earth. The diagram below on the right is one you typically see in books. Don’t let it confuse you. The images of the Moon show what you see the Moon look like from Earth when it is at given points in its orbit. It does not show which side of the Moon is lit by the Sun. The side lit by the Sun is always the side that is pointed toward the Sun, as seen in the diagram below.

We only see the Moon because sunlight reflectsback to us from its surface. During the course of a month, the Moon circles once around the Earth. If we could magically look down on our solar system, we would see that the half of the Moon facing the Sun is always lit. But the lit side does not always face the Earth!
As the Moon circles the Earth, the amount of the lit side we see changes. These changes are known as the phases of the Moon and it repeats in a certain way over and over.

At new moon, the Moon is lined up between the Earth and the Sun. We see the side of the Moon that is not being lit by the Sun (in other words, we see no Moon at all, because the brightness of the Sun outshines the dim Moon!) When the Moon is exactly lined up with the Sun (as viewed from Earth), we experience an eclipse.

As the Moon moves eastward away from the Sun in the sky, we see a bit more of the sunlit side of the Moon each night. A few days after new moon, we see a thin crescent in the western evening sky. The crescent Moon waxes, or appears to grow fatter, each night. When half of the Moon’s disc is illuminated, we call it the first quarter moon. This name comes from the fact that the Moon is now one-quarter of the way through the lunar month. From Earth, we are now looking at the sunlit side of the Moon from off to the side.

The Moon continues to wax. Once more than half of the disc is illuminated, it has a shape we call gibbous. The gibbous moon appears to grow fatter each night until we see the full sunlit face of the Moon. We call this phase the full moon. It rises almost exactly as the Sun sets and sets just as the Sun rises the next day. The Moon has now completed one half of the lunar month.

During the second half of the lunar month, the Moon grows thinner each night. We call this waning. Its shape is still gibbous at this point, but grows a little thinner each night. As it reaches the three-quarter point in its month, the Moon once again shows us one side of its disc illuminated and the other side in darkness. However, the side that we saw dark at the first quarter phase is now the lit side. As it completes its journey and approaches new moon again, the Moon is a waning crescent.

You can demonstrate the phases of the Moon for yourself by using a lamp and a baseball. Place the lamp with its shade removed in one end of a darkened room. Sit in the other end of the room and hold the baseball up in front of you so that it is between your face and the lamp. Now move the ball around your head at arm’s length. Do this slowly and move your arm from right to left. As the baseball orbits your head, you will see it go through the same phases as the Moon.

Question/ Purpose:

What do you want to find out write a statement that describes what you want to do. use your observations and questions to write the statement..

Why moon has different phases. Do the phases of moon have anything to do with the location of the moon on the sky? (from our vision)

Identify Variables:

When you think you know what variables may be involved, think about ways to change one at a time. if you change more than one at a time, you will not know what variable is causing your observation. sometimes variables are linked and work together to cause something. at first, try to choose variables that you think act independently of each other..

Variables that may affect the phases of the moon is the location of moon, earth and sun on the sky. If we draw a line from sun to the earth and draw another line from earth to the moon, the angle between these two lines affect what portion of the moon we will see. So this is one good way you may define variables.

The independent variable is the angle between moon line and sun line.

The dependent variable is the phase of the moon.

Constants are the position of the sun and experiment method.

Hypothesis:

Based on your gathered information, make an educated guess about what types of things affect the system you are working with. identifying variables is necessary before you can make a hypothesis., this is a sample hypothesis:.

The lit part of the moon decreases as the angle between moon line and sun line increases.

This is another sample hypothesis:

My hypothesis is that the position of the moon in the sky does affect the phases of the moon. In other words when we don’t see the moon or see only a small part of the moon, are the times of month the moon will mostly be on the sky in the day, not at night. Also I think that full moon can be seen above the sky at mid night, but half moon and partial moon can not be above in the mid night and they have to be closer to the horizon.

If the sun is lighting up the side of moon that is not faced to the earth; then we will see parts of the moon that is sunny and parts that are dark. Variations of the dark and light portions we see form the phases of the moon.

Do not try to use one of the above two hypothesis. They are just sample hypotheses and hypothesis is just a guess you make after some initial studies (so it might be wrong). You must come up with your own hypothesis. In your words write why does the moon have different phases.

Experiment design:, design an experiment to test each hypothesis. make a step-by-step list of what you will do to answer each question. this list is called an experimental procedure. for an experiment to give answers you can trust, it must have a “control.” a control is an additional experimental trial or run. it is a separate experiment, done exactly like the others. the only difference is that no experimental variables are changed. a control is a neutral “reference point” for comparison that allows you to see what changing a variable does by comparing it to not changing anything. dependable controls are sometimes very hard to develop. they can be the hardest part of a project. without a control you cannot be sure that changing the variable causes your observations. a series of experiments that includes a control is called a “controlled experiment.”.

Design an experiment to show or simulate the phases of the moon.

1. Cut and glue a piece of black construction paper to completely cover the inside cover of the shoebox.

2. Cut a piece of black thread about 2 cm long. Tape or glue the Styrofoam™ ball to one end of the thread. Tape or glue the free end of the thread to the center of the inside box cover.

3. Place the light end of the flashlight against one of the outside short ends of the box. Draw a circle the size of the flashlight on the box. Remove the flashlight and cut out the drawn circle.

4. Punch two small holes into each of the long sides of the box (see figure).

5. Punch one small hole approximately 2 in. and to the right of the flashlight hole (see figure).

6. Number the holes indicated as 1 to 5 on the figure.

7. Secure, with masking tape or modeling clay, the flashlight facing into the box through the larger hole on the short side of the box. Make sure that no light shows through.

8. Turn the flashlight on, look through each small hole, and record your observations. Draw a picture of what you observe.

What’s Going On

In this simulation, the light from the flashlight represents the light from the sun.

The Styrofoam™ ball represents the moon. The small holes in the box represent your observation of the moon from different positions of the earth. A moon phase is just the reflection of the sunlight. The moon is a satellite of the earth; therefore it travels around the earth. Only one side of the moon faces the sun. As the moon travels around the earth different sections of the moon reflect the sunlight. We call these sighted portions moon phases. The moon goes through a number of phases from new moon to full moon to quarter moon every month.

Connections

From 1969 to 1972, numerous space missions explored the moon. The moon is considered to be geologically dead. It has low surface gravity and is considered to have no water, atmosphere, vegetation, or animal life. The missions determined that the moon has dust everywhere. Lunar rocks are similar to molten rock formed on earth. Lunar rocks contain little iron and no water.

Additional Activities

Darken a room, and put a lamp in a lighted doorway. Stand in the darkened room. Hold a volleyball or any other large ball over your head in front of you. Turn your-self around and observe the light reflected on the ball.

Additional Experiments:

Make a scale model of Earth and Moon. This model will help you to get a good idea of the distances in space.

Gathered information shows:

The diameter of the moon is: 3,476 km
The diameter of the earth is 12,753 km
The distance from earth to moon is 384,400 km

Use these information to build a scale model of earth and moon. We want to use a 5″ ball to be the earth, what will be the diameter of the moon?

(3,476 x 5) / 12,753 = 1.36

What will be the distance from moon to earth?

(384,400 x 5) / 12,753 = 15.7

So if the diameter of the earth is 5″, the diameter of the moon will be 1.36 ” and the distance between these two is 150 inches. Get a 5″ Styrofoam ball to be the earth and another 1.3 inch ball to be the moon. Use a 150 inch tread to connect the moon to the earth. Use this setup also for your display.

Click here to see the phases of the moon now.

Materials and Equipment:

black construction paper
Styrofoam™ ball (5 cm)
flashlight (small, lightweight)
masking tape
black thread
hole puncher
modeling clay

Results of Experiment (Observation):

Write the result of your experiment here.

Could you see different phases of the moon in your experiment?
Does the phases of the moon has any relation with sun-earth-moon angle?
Look inside the box from different holes and write what phase of the moon do you see from each hole?

Calculations:

If you do any calculation related to this project, write them in your report as well.

Summery of Results:

Summarize what happened. This can be in the form of a table of processed numerical data, or graphs. It could also be a written statement of what occurred during experiments.

It is from calculations using recorded data that tables and graphs are made. Studying tables and graphs, we can see trends that tell us how different variables cause our observations. Based on these trends, we can draw conclusions about the system under study. These conclusions help us confirm or deny our original hypothesis. Often, mathematical equations can be made from graphs. These equations allow us to predict how a change will affect the system without the need to do additional experiments. Advanced levels of experimental science rely heavily on graphical and mathematical analysis of data. At this level, science becomes even more interesting and powerful.

Conclusion:

Using the trends in your experimental data and your experimental observations, try to answer your original questions. Is your hypothesis correct? Now is the time to pull together what happened, and assess the experiments you did.

Possible Errors:

If you did not observe anything different than what happened with your control, the variable you changed may not affect the system you are investigating. If you did not observe a consistent, reproducible trend in your series of experimental runs there may be experimental errors affecting your results. The first thing to check is how you are making your measurements. Is the measurement method questionable or unreliable? Maybe you are reading a scale incorrectly, or maybe the measuring instrument is working erratically.

If you determine that experimental errors are influencing your results, carefully rethink the design of your experiments. Review each step of the procedure to find sources of potential errors. If possible, have a scientist review the procedure with you. Sometimes the designer of an experiment can miss the obvious.

References:

List of References

Safety Precautions

READ AND COPY BEFORE STARTING ANY EXPERIMENT

Experimental science can be dangerous. Events can happen very quickly while you are performing an experiment. Things can spill, break, even catch fire. Basic safety procedures help prevent serious accidents. Be sure to follow additional safety precautions and adult supervision requirements for each experiment. If you are working in a lab or in the field, do not work alone.

This book assumes that you will read the safety precautions that follow, as well as those at the start of each experiment you perform, and that you will remember them. These precautions will not always be repeated in the instructions for the procedures. It is up to you to use good judgment and pay attention when performing potentially dangerous procedures. Just because the book does not always say “be careful with hot liquids” or “don’t cut yourself with the knife” does not mean that you should be careless when simmering water or stripping an electrical wire. It does mean that when you see a special note to be careful, it is extremely important that you pay attention to it. If you ever have a question about whether a procedure or material is dangerous, stop to find out for sure that it is safe before continuing the experiment. To avoid accidents, always pay close attention to your work, take your time, and practice the general safety procedures listed below.

Clear all surfaces before beginning work.
Read through the whole experiment before you start.
Identify hazardous procedures and anticipate dangers.

PROTECT YOURSELF

Follow all directions step by step; do only one procedure at a time.
Locate exits, fire blanket and extinguisher, master gas and electricity shut-offs, eyewash, and first-aid kit.
Make sure that there is adequate ventilation.
Do not horseplay.
Wear an apron and goggles.
Do not wear contact lenses, open shoes, and loose clothing; do not wear your hair loose.
Keep floor and work space neat, clean, and dry.
Clean up spills immediately.
Never eat, drink, or smoke in the laboratory or near the work space
Do not taste any substances tested unless expressly permitted to do so by a science teacher in charge.

USE EQUIPMENT WITH CARE

Set up apparatus far from the edge of the desk.
Use knives and other sharp or pointed instruments with caution; always cut away from yourself and others.
Pull plugs, not cords, when inserting and removing electrical plugs.
Don’t use your mouth to pipette; use a suction bulb.
Clean glassware before and after use.
Check glassware for scratches, cracks, and sharp edges.
Clean up broken glassware immediately.
Do not use reflected sunlight to illuminate your microscope.
Do not touch metal conductors.
Use only low-voltage and low-current materials.
Be careful when using stepstools, chairs, and ladders.

USING CHEMICALS

Never taste or inhale chemicals.
Label all bottles and apparatus containing chemicals.
Read all labels carefully.
Avoid chemical contact with skin and eyes (wear goggles, apron, and gloves).
Do not touch chemical solutions.
Wash hands before and after using solutions.
Wipe up spills thoroughly.

HEATING INSTRUCTIONS

Use goggles, apron, and gloves when boiling liquids.
Keep your face away from test tubes and beakers.
Never leave heating apparatus unattended.
Use safety tongs and heat-resistant mittens.
Turn off hot plates, Bunsen burners, and gas when you are done.
Keep flammable substances away from heat.
Have a fire extinguisher on hand.

WORKING WITH MICROORGANISMS

Assume that all microorganisms are infectious; handle them with care.
Sterilize all equipment being used to handle microorganisms.

GOING ON FIELD TRIPS

Do not go on a field trip by yourself.
Tell a responsible adult where you are going, and maintain that route.
Know the area and its potential hazards, such as poisonous plants, deep water, and rapids.
Dress for terrain and weather conditions (prepare for exposure to sun as well as to cold).
Bring along a first-aid kit.
Do not drink water or eat plants found in the wild.
Use the buddy system; do not experiment outdoors alone.

FINISHING UP

Thoroughly clean your work area and glassware.
Be careful not to return chemicals or contaminated reagents to the wrong containers.
Don’t dispose of materials in the sink unless instructed to do so.
Wash your hands thoroughly.
Clean up all residue, and containerize it for proper disposal.
Dispose of all chemicals according to local, state, and federal laws.

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Science Project

Europa Clipper

Resources for kids.

Learn about Jupiter's moon, Europa, and Europa Clipper, NASA's mission to explore the icy world.

Calling All Kids: Explore Europa Through Art

Join the NASA Space Place art challenge and imagine what's beneath Europa’s icy surface. Submit artwork by Sept. 30 for a chance to be featured by NASA!

Europa: Jupiter's Ocean World

NASA is launching a spacecraft called Europa Clipper to determine whether there are places below the surface of Jupiter’s icy moon, Europa, that could support life.

Europa has reddish brown lines and patches in this image from Juno.

Make a Colorful Crayon Europa with Textures!

A white part of an airplane is shown in the sky over a patchy, icy part of Earth. A small bit of blue water can be seen between the glaciers and sea ice.

Is There Ice on Other Planets?

A blue and green cartoon version of Earth, with large eyes, and a mouth, talks to the Moon, which is smaller and gray with large eyes.

How Many Moons Does Each Planet Have?

A multi-colored graphic showing various facts about Europa.

Deep Dive on Jupiter's Moon Europa Infographic

El mundo oceánico de júpiter.

La NASA está lanzando una nave espacial llamada Europa Clipper para determinar si hay lugares debajo de la superficie de Europa, la luna helada de Júpiter, que podrían albergar vida.

The largest portion of the Europa's surface can be seen at the highest resolution from Galileo.

¡Crea tu propia Europa de texturas coloreadas con crayones!

¿hay hielo en otros planetas.

¿Cuántas lunas tiene cada planeta?

Classroom activities.

A spacecraft hovers over a reddish striped moon with planet Jupiter in the background.

Teachable Moments: Exploring the Next Frontier in Our Search for Life With Europa Clipper

A brownish, gray tardigrades, also known as water bears, against a brown background.

Classroom Activity: Design an Alien

A closeup view of the red and gray surface of a planet.

Classroom Activity: Planetary Poetry

An open notebook with white paper sits on a wooden table. A pen is sitting on the right side of the notebook.

Student Project: Write a Poem About Space

Artist's rendering of NASA's Europa Clipper

Classroom Activity: Calculating Solar Power in Space

Several colors of plastic building bricks stacked together.

Classroom Activity: Mapping Alien Worlds

Discovering alien oceans: magnetism.

Two clear plastic cups sit on a table next to one another. The left one is mainly filled with slushy water with a bit of sand at the bottom while the right cup has rocks at the bottom, clear water in the middle, and slushy water at the top.

Discovering Alien Oceans: Density

Fountains of ice erupt from the surface of Enceladus. The small moon is mostly in shadow, which makes the geysers illuminated by sunlight stand out.

Classroom Activity: Spacecraft Materials and the Chemistry of Space Exploration

A brightly colored map of Western Australia created using data from a Landsat satellite.

Classroom Activity: Using Light to Study Planets

Classroom Activity: NASA Space Voyagers Game

People in white protective clothing work around the solar panels for the Juno spacecraft.

Classroom Activity: Inverse Square Law Demo

More resources.

Europa Clipper: Ways to Participate

Explore this page for mission updates, activities, spacecraft models, posters, stickers, animations, and more.

NASA Space Place

NASA Space Place provides games, hands-on activities, informative articles, and engaging short videos for upper-elementary-aged kids.

Discover More Topics From NASA

Jupiter against black background of space

Jupiter Moons

Solar System Exploration

An illustration of orange and blue planets and other objects in our solar system shown not to scale, but to illustrate some of the details of each world.

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August 22, 2024

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

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trusted source

Novel strategy proposed for massive water production on the moon

by Chinese Academy of Sciences

Water plays a crucial role in human survival on the lunar surface, thus attracting extensive research attention. Prof. Wang Junqiang's team at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has recently developed a new method of massive water production through a reaction between lunar regolith and endogenous hydrogen.

Research results of previous lunar explorations, like the Apollo and Chang'E-5 missions, have revealed the widespread presence of water on the moon. However, the water content in lunar minerals is extremely low, ranging from 0.0001% to 0.02%. It remains challenging to extract and utilize water in situ on the moon.

"We used lunar regolith samples brought back by the Chang'E-5 mission in our study, trying to find a way to produce water on the moon," said Wang. The study was published in The Innovation .

The study revealed that when the lunar regolith is heated above 1,200 K with concave mirrors, one gram of molten lunar regolith can generate 51–76 mg of water. In other words, one ton of lunar regolith could produce more than 50 kg of water, which is equal to about a hundred 500-ml bottles of drinking water. This would be enough drinking water for 50 people for one day.

In addition, lunar ilmenite (FeTiO 3 ) was found to contain the highest amount of solar wind-implanted hydrogen among the five primary minerals in the lunar regolith , owing to its unique lattice structure with sub-nanometer tunnels.

In-situ heating experiments indicated that hydrogen in lunar minerals is a substantial resource for producing water on the moon. Such water could be used both for drinking and irrigating plants. In addition, it could be electrochemically decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen, with hydrogen being used for energy and oxygen being essential for breathing.

These discoveries provide pioneering insights into water exploration on the moon and shed light on the future construction of lunar research stations.

Provided by Chinese Academy of Sciences

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How has outer space and the universe inspired artists in their creations? How can art be used by scientists to share their information with the world? Check out the activities below to explore these questions and create your own space-inspired art!

Jump to a Section: The Art and Science of Our Moon Create Your Own Constellation Explore the Museum's Art Collection Music Inspired by Space Meet Alma Thomas Story Time Recommendations Explore Out of the House

The Art and Science of Our Moon

Draw the moon.

The Moon is one of the biggest objects in the night sky, and is bright because it reflects the Sun's light. It's also the subject of inspiration for many songs, poems, paintings and art.

Take some time to look closely at it and draw what you see!

Materials Needed:

piece of paper
a pencil and eraser
something to trace a small circle, like a small bowl, a glass or jar lid
something hard to write on

Step 1: Prepare your drawing sheet.

Gather your supplies and trace a circle on your paper. You can draw several circles in case you want to draw what you see several times.

Step 2: Go outside and look for the Moon.

When the sun has gone down, look for the Moon in the sky. You can look online or on a weather app to find out what time the Moon rises where you live.

Step 3: What can you see with your eyes? What do you notice? Draw what you see!

Step 4: Study your drawing—what can you discover?

The first thing you might've noticed on the Moon are the dark and light patches . Those colors show you the different types of rock that tell the story of what happened to the Moon.

The dark patches are called maria , which means “seas,” because people thought they looked like oceans. They don’t actually contain liquid water. They are areas that flooded with lava after big space rocks crashed into the Moon’s crust billions of years ago. They are dark because of the type of rock that is present.

The lighter places are called highlands . They are taller areas on the Moon's surface that are a lot like mountains on Earth. Tip: Go outside on different nights of the month and draw how the Moon changes throughout the month!

Five sketches of the moon showing it waxing and waning.

Create a Moon Mobile

Go the extra step and create a mobile from your moon drawings! Follow along with this video to make your moon three-dimensional.

Did you know it takes 27 days, 7 hours, and 43 minutes for the Moon to go around the Earth? That's almost a full month!

Materials Needed:

a sheet of paper (construction or plain printer paper)
a hole punch (or a sharp pencil/ tack)
a piece of yarn
colored pencil, marker or crayon
jar lid

Step 1: Draw another moon!

Make another moon just like the one you drew in the last activity. Recreate the same process as before.

Step 2: Cut slits in the moon from the middle and slide them into one another.

Cut both circles. Be careful to keep it nice and round, just like the Moon!
Make a dot in the center of each circle. Cut a slit in both circles, all the way to the middle dot. Be sure to just make one on the top of one circle and the bottom of the other.
Slide the both slits into each other and secure with clear tape.

Step 3:

Your moon is almost ready to hang. Punch holes in both circles, with either the hole punch, sharp pencil, or thumbtack.
Take the yarn and string it through the holes of the moon. Keep both ends at the top and tie a knot.
Take the loop of yarn and wrap it around a pencil or skewer.

Join Museum Educator Ann Caspari and learn how to make mobile model of the planet and its Moon.

Create Your Own Constellation

Did you know that constellations were used as landmarks, or even maps in the sky? When you look in the sky at night, do you see the different shapes? What do those shapes look like?

Constellations are a group of stars that form a recognizable pattern, like shapes or lines. You can see certain constellations in the sky depending on what time of the year it is. These "star pictures" are traditionally named after what their shapes look like, like the Big Dipper in the picture on the right.

Many cultures around the world developed many myths and legends related to constellations, and they were used for navigation, religion, farming, and more. Modern astronomers divide the sky into 88 constellations!

Have you ever looked up at the constellations and wished you had them with you in your own room?

Try this activity and you will be able to see the constellations on your ceiling!

a sharp pencil
construction paper/printer paper
a flashlight

A picture of the night's sky with the outline of the constellation the Big Dipper super imposed.

First, think about which constellations you like the most. You can either get inspiration from the night sky, online or by researching different formations at your local library.

A flashlight and pen sit on a piece of paper.

This is materials for a "Create Your Own Constellation" activity.

Step 2:

When you are ready, take your pencil and make dots to copy your constellation pattern.

A hand draws a constellation on a piece of paper.

An activity from Soar Together.

With the help of a grown up, poke your pencil through each dot and make a hole.

A hand punches holes into a constellation drawn on a piece of paper.

An example of an activity for Soar Together.

Step 4:

When you are done making holes, turn off the lights and shine the flashlight onto your paper. Look how cool the stars look! What shapes do they make?

Lights projected on the ceiling in the shape of a constellation.

An example of a Soar Together activity.

Collections Connection: The Museum's Art Collection

Did you know that the National Air and Space Museum has one of the largest art collections at the Smithsonian? But why would an air and space museum collect art?

The mission of our museum is to "commemorate, educate, inspire" and we collect art that tells the story of how air and space exploration, like our mission to the Moon, inspired and changed peoples' lives.

Custom Image Caption

Hubert Jackson, NASA Heroes and Sheroes , 2019

This painting is special because it shows the people of color who had important jobs in space exploration, like Peter Robinson (pictured on the left in the green jacket) and Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Dorothy Vaughn, the mathematicians highlighted in the book and movie, Hidden Figures .

Grown-ups: Learn more about this painting and the artist Hubert Jackson .

Chet Jezierski, Lunar Liftoff of "Orion," 20:26 EST, 23 April 72, 1972

NASA invited artists to join the NASA Art Program to create art inspired by our mission to send the first human beings to the Moon. This sketch is of the liftoff of the lunar lander as seen on television screens at Mission Control in Houston, Texas.

Robert Rauschenberg, Sky Garden , 1969

Robert was another artist in the NASA Art Program. He collected things he found Kennedy Space Center to put into his painting, like blueprints and pictures of people.

Charles O. Perry, Continuum , 1976

This bronze sculpture sits outside of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. The sculpture is sometimes described as a star shooting through a black hole or the flow of the universe.

Talk About It:

Imagine you are an artist hired by NASA to create a piece of art that would tell the story of what is happening with space exploration right now. What would you create? A drawing? A sculpture? A song? Talk to a family member about your idea and ask them what they would create.

Music Inspired by Space Exploration

Check out our Music Time playlist for music videos with songs written and performed by scientist Dr. Jim Thorne and illustrations by museum educator and artist Diane Kidd.

Spotlight Story: Alma Thomas, painter

Alma Woodsey Thomas was a painter and teacher who used nature and outer space as inspiration for her art.

Alma was born in Georgia in 1958. Her parents wanted her to have more opportunities than they had, so she moved to Washington, DC for college. She quickly made the city her home, and she stayed for the rest of her life. Alma studied art at Howard University. After she graduated, she went to another school in New York. She became a teacher and moved back to Washington, DC.

Alma often painted different scenes from nature and space. Her paintings were abstract, or different from what is usually seen by people.

She liked to listen to the Apollo and Mariner missions while she was painting, and it inspired her work. Her painting, The Eclipse (1970), is inspired by the total solar eclipse that was visible in Washington, DC that year.

Although she painted often throughout her time as a teacher, when Alma retired, her paintings became very popular and drew in large crowds.

Even when Alma faced prejudice as a Black female artist, she still showed bravery with every paint stroke! She is a great role model for all artists!

Learn more about Alma Thomas and check out another art activity at our sister museum, the Hirshhorn.

Story Time Recommendations

Ablaze with color: a story of painter alma thomas.

Best for ages 4 to 8 By Jeanne Walker Harvey, illustrated by Loveis Wise Meet artist Alma Thomas who was inspired by nature and space travel and created beautiful paintings, several of which are in our Museum's collection.

Best for ages 5 to 9 By Peter H. Reynolds Follow along with Marisol as she stretches her imagination to paint the sky for a school mural.

Blast Off! Poems about Space

Best for ages 6 to 8 Selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins, pictures by Melissa Sweet Read these charming short poems about space, the planets and the possibilities of space exploration.

Explore Out of the House!

Find inspiration for art by looking at the night sky and your everyday surroundings.

Activity: Take Pictures of Your Surroundings

A clip of a STEM in 30 episode.

Watch this video and learn how astronauts aboard the International Space Station observe the Earth from space and take photographs. They look for patterns and changes on Earth that can help scientists who study the Earth's processes like volcanos and weather.

Astronauts have to learn photography skills and how to use cameras so they can take useful pictures.

Practice your observation skills in your neighborhood and take pictures like the astronauts do!

pencil and paper
something to take pictures with—this could be a phone or camera

Step 1:

Go outside near your home with your grown-up and observe the sky, the ground and scenery around you. Take pictures to document the different details you see.

Just like any great scientist, be sure to write down the date, time, temperature, and whatever else you think is important for the journal entry.

Go out to this place on different days and take pictures of the same thing. See if you can document how the scenery and temperature changes, or how certain patterns stay the same.

Soar Together at Air and Space is made possible by the generous support of Northrop Grumman.

Sign up for our mailing list to get notified when more activities like this become available, learn about upcoming family days, get reminders to sign up for other family-friendly programs like virtual planetarium shows and story times, and more.

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Culture and Lifestyle
Quotes and Sayings

86 Good Night Quotes That Will Bring Peaceful Sleep

Use these quotes to drift off to dreamland.

Short Good Night Quotes

Good night quotes for her, good night quotes for him, good night quotes for kids, inspirational good night quotes, religious good night quotes.

Getty Images

When you are wishing someone good night, whether it's your spouse or your child, the intent is to send them wistfully into a peaceful slumber without counting sheep. Good night quotes focus on how much we love and care about someone and wish them nothing but the best until morning.

Southern Living

“Love you yesterday, love you still, always have, always will.” – Elaine Davis
“I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.” – Sarah Williams
“Listen to the night sky; the mockingbird always sings you my lullaby.” – Jmemo
“Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow.” – William Shakespeare
“The night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.” - Vincent van Gogh
“Sleep is the best meditation.” - Dalai Lama
“It was the possibility of darkness that made the day seem so bright.” - Stephen King
“Good night, and good luck.” - Edward R. Murrow
“Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight, What more is there to say than goodnight? - Jimmy Durante
"There is a time for many words, and there is also a time for sleep." - Homer
“Happiness consists of getting enough sleep. Just that, nothing more.” — Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers
“The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night’s sleep.” — E. Joseph Cossman, Entrepreneur and Author
“A well-spent day brings happy sleep.” — Leonardo da Vinci
“Your future depends on your dreams, so go to sleep.” — Mesut Barazany
“Even a soul submerged in sleep is hard at work and helps make something of the world.” — Heraclitus
“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you, I could walk in my garden forever.” – Alfred Lord Tennyson
“Good night, my angel. Time to close your eyes.” – Billy Joel
“Good night. May you fall asleep in the arms of a dream so beautiful you’ll cry when you awake.” – Michael Faudet
“I love the silent hour of night, For blissful dreams may then arise, Revealing to my charmed sight What may not bless my waking eyes.” - Anne Brontë
“We love the night and its quiet; and there is no night that we love so well as that on which the moon is coffined in clouds.” - Fitz-James O'Brien
“No wonder Sleeping Beauty looked so good… she took long naps, never got old, and didn’t have to do anything but snore to get her Prince Charming.” - Olive Green
“And I start sleeping and dreaming and I think I’ll dream about you, all through the night.” - John Mayer
"After an exhausting day, it is only fair that we have a sweet sleep." - Unknown
“As night falls, every joy glows brighter.” - Mason Cooley
“I can’t close my eyes without you in my dreams.” – Luke Bryan
“You’ll be the last thing I think of before I fall asleep and the first thing I think of when I wake up.” – A.G. Henley
“Star Light, star bright, you are the first and last I think of tonight. Good night, my true love.” – Unknown
“I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night.” – When Harry Met Sally
“The moon is full, the night is deep, nature is alive—the only thing missing is you, next to me as we sleep.” – Nicholas Staniszewski
“Let her sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world.” — Napoleon Bonaparte
“I think about you constantly, whether it’s with my mind or my heart.” – Terri Guilemets
“A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book.” - Irish Proverb
“The day is over, the night is here, know that I love you today and forever, my dear.” – Catherine Pulsifer
“You are my blue crayon—the one I never have enough of—the one I use to color my sky.” – A.R. Rasher
“I just want to say, good night, sweet prince, may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.” - Harry Dean Stanton
“The sea will grant each man new hope, and sleep will bring dreams of home.” - Christopher Columbus
“Life always offers you a second chance. It's called tomorrow.” - Dylan Thomas
“It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.” - John Steinbeck
“Sunset is the opening music of the night.” - Mehmet Murat Ildan
“Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn.” - Mahatma Gandhi
“And tonight, I’ll fall asleep with you in my heart.” – Unknown
“Go to sleep knowing that I loved you this day, and each tomorrow my love grows stronger. Good night!” – Catherine Pulsifer
“Sleep, my love, dream happy dreams. You are the only one who has ever touched my heart. It will forever be yours.” – Stephanie Meyer
“Sleep is the most innocent creature there is and a sleepless man the most guilty.” — Franz Kafka, Supreme Secrets of Success
“Man is a genius when he is dreaming.” — Akira Kurosawa, Japanese Film Director
“The day is over, it’s time for rest. Sleep well, my dear, you did your best.” – Catherine Pulsifer
“Goodnight stars, goodnight air, goodnight noises everywhere.” - Margaret Wise Brown
“I wish for you a good night of sleep, sweet dreams, and a smiling morning.” – Debasish Mridha
“Good night, slept tight, awake full of joy at the morning light.” - Theodore Higgingsworth
“This is the end of the day, but soon there will be a new day.” - Bernard Williams
“Good night now, and rest. Today was a test, You passed it, you're past it. Now breathe till unstressed.” - Lin-Manuel Miranda
"As the night gets dark, let your worries fade. Sleep peacefully knowing you’ve done all you can do for today.” - Roald Dahl
"Day is over, night has come. Today is gone, what’s done is done. Embrace your dreams, through the night. Tomorrow comes with a whole new light.” - George Orwell
“Goodnight. Let the stars light the way to where your dreams can be found awaiting your arrival.” - Anthony T. Hincks
“When I say good night to you, I am wishing you a pleasant and restful sleep. Not a night where you have to count sheep. But one that you will wake rested and fine.” – Catherine Pulsifer
“Each night, I hope the moon is large and bright and you will be happy and right. When you turn off the light, keep in mind that I am dreaming of you.” – Unknown
“Take a look out your window now. Although we may be apart at the moment we can both gaze up at the same moon. Good night.” – Sid Mohanty
“Night has come. It is time for you to sleep, my love, so we can be happy tomorrow as we usually are.” – Ambika
“Sleep well because my love is the wings to cover you and my hug and kiss are the warmth to give you pleasure. Good night, darling.” – Unknown
“Happiness is a sleeping baby.” — Unknown
“Babies smile in their sleep because they are listening to the whispers of angels.” — Unknown
“The sky grew darker, painted blue on blue, one stroke at a time, into deeper and deeper shades of night.” - Haruki Murakami
“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer.” - Maya Angelou
"This is the ending. Now not day only shall be beloved, but night too shall be beautiful and blessed and all its fear pass away.” - J. R. R. Tolkien
“The best bridge between despair and hope is a good night's sleep.” - E. Joseph Cossman
“The moon will guide you through the night with her brightness, but she will always dwell in the darkness, in order to be seen.” - Shannon L. Adler
“Night is purer than day; it is better for thinking, loving, and dreaming. At night everything is more intense, more true. The echo of words that have been spoken during the day takes on a new and deeper meaning.” - Elie Wiesel
“Night is the wonderful opportunity to take rest, to forgive, to smile, to get ready for all the battles that you have to fight tomorrow.” - Allen Ginsberg
"The night is longer than a day for those who dream, and day is longer than night for those who make their dreams comes true." - Jack Kerouac
“Night is always darker before the dawn and life is the same, the hard times will pass, everything will get better and sun will shine brighter than ever.” - Ernest Hemingway
“I like the night. Without the dark, we’d never see the stars.” - Stephanie Meyer
“Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives.” — William Charles Dement
"Grant me a good night's sleep tonight, God, so that I can awake refreshed and ready to begin another day loving you. Thank you again for blessings so undeserved and too numerous to count." - Rebecca Barlow Jordan
"Father, we thank thee for the night, and for the pleasant morning light. For rest and food and loving care, and all that makes the day so fair. Help us to do the things we should, to be to others kind and good. In all we do, in work or play, to grow more loving every day." - Rebecca Weston
"Father, thank you for holding me together today. I needed you, and you were there for me. Thank you for every bit of love, mercy, and grace that was shown to me though I did not deserve it. Thank you for your faithfulness even in my suffering. To you alone be the glory. Amen." - Topher Haddox
"As I lay down in sleep to safely wake again only by Your grace, keep me in a joyful, lively remembrance that whatever happens, I will someday know my final rising — the resurrection — because Jesus Christ lay down in death for me and rose for my justification. In His name I pray, Amen." - Tim Keller
"Heavenly Father, who gives rest to His children — will You wash over me a peace that passes all understanding as I lay down to sleep tonight? I ask that You would ease the load of the burdens I am carrying." - Lysa TerKeurst
"Jesus, tender shepherd, hear me. Bless this little lamb tonight. Through the darkness be down near me, keep me safe till morning light." - Mary Duncan
"Lord, thank You for providing a rest for my soul that’s not attached to a person or experience. You created me for this rest, and I accept it now. Help me fully trust You with my heart. In Jesus’ Name, Amen." - Glynnis Whitwer
"Oh Lord, Go with each of us to rest; if any awake, temper to them the dark hours of watching; and when the day returns, return to us, our sun and comforter, and call us up with morning faces and with morning hearts, eager to labor, eager to be happy, and if the day be marked for sorrow, strong to endure it." - Robert Louis Stevenson
"Heavenly Father, my day is drawing to an end, and I'm ready to turn in. But before I do, I have to thank you for your faithfulness today. It's always a good day, even when things may not go the way I plan, or when the world seems in chaos because you are in control. For all the times when I was aware of your help today, all the times when your unseen presence seemed so near, thank you, God. But for all the ways you worked behind the scenes, unknown to me, moments when heaven-sent angels moved on my behalf in ways I'll never know, thank you for those also, Lord. Amen. - Rebecca Barlow Jordan
"Dear Jesus, teach me to daily lay my burdens at your feet. Show me I can trust in your loving care. Grant me, your beloved, the nourishing blessing of rest and peaceful sleep." - Rachel Olsen
“They say that God sprinkles his blessings upon the Earth every day and I think I’ve caught one—it’s you! Wishing you a good night and I love you.” – Unknown
“You can go to bed without fear; you will lie down and sleep soundly.” — Proverbs 3:24

New center harnesses AI to advance autonomous exploration of outer space

Student adjusts a robotic arm in a multi-colored robotic testbed.

A new center at the Stanford School of Engineering will leverage artificial intelligence in the service of space science, exploration, and business.

The Center for AEroSpace Autonomy Research , or CAESAR, aims to make these activities more efficient, safe, and sustainable. Researchers at the center say that AI could optimize navigation for spacecraft; deftly land space vehicles on planets or asteroids; allow unmanned rovers to make decisions about where to go, what to avoid, and what to analyze; keep tabs on all the space junk (some 60,000 pieces, at last count) whirling around Earth, threatening lives and equipment; and much more.

To enable such ambitions, Marco Pavone , CAESAR co-founder and associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics, announced that one of the center’s main projects will be to develop a foundation model for space pursuits. A foundation model is a kind of general-purpose AI that’s trained on huge amounts of data and can handle a variety of tasks, like generating text, images, and even videos. This “space foundation model,” Pavone said, will be designed to synthesize information across a range of modalities, including vision, text, remote sensing (such as multispectral imagery and radar), and space-object catalogs, and will be capable of addressing a variety of space-related tasks, including situational awareness, positioning, and navigation.

“We want to develop rigorous tools for the trusted deployment of AI for spacecraft systems – trusted in the sense that they can behave within bounds described by the user,” said Simone D’Amico , CAESAR co-founder and associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics.

D’Amico made it clear that he, Pavone, and their collaborators plan to proceed prudently, with eyes wide open to the potential pitfalls of pursuing AI for spacecraft and robots. He said that in some cases, AI components are not the most effective choice for space systems.

“We founded CAESAR with the objective to tackle unsolved problems in spaceborne autonomy through the judicious incorporation of artificial intelligence components,” D’Amico said.

D’Amico also noted the constraints space imposes on the fledgling technology. For example, space is a harsh, remote environment that’s not readily available for AI training, and powerful microprocessors needed for AI are still not resilient to space radiation.

Pavone and D’Amico spoke May 22 during a daylong symposium to mark the official launch of CAESAR, which is a collaboration between academia, industry, and government with D’Amico’s Space Rendezvous Lab and Pavone’s Autonomous Systems Lab at its core. The event featured presentations from Stanford faculty members, postdoctoral scholars, and students, as well as representatives from NASA, Aerospace Corp., and aerospace manufacturers Redwire Space, Blue Origin, and Lockheed Martin.

CAESAR projects underway

CAESAR’s initial focus has been on developing machine learning models for space rendezvous, proximity operations, and docking – a suite of maneuvers for bringing two or more spacecraft close enough to one another to interact or dock while in orbit. One of these models, D’Amico said, is the Spacecraft Pose estimation Network (SPN), which integrates machine learning with a classical navigation algorithm to robustly estimate a target spacecraft’s position and orientation from monocular images.

Another is the Autonomous Rendezvous Transformer (ART) . ART aims to optimize spacecraft trajectories by allowing AI to provide a “smart initial guess” that is fine-tuned by traditional mathematical optimization, said Daniele Gammelli, a research fellow at CAESAR. This approach could be useful because optimizing spacecraft trajectories with only conventional numerical methods is likely beyond the capabilities of today’s space-grade microprocessors, Gammelli said. “We try to combine the best of both worlds between numerical optimization and learning-based methods,” he said.

In a different realm of space exploration, researchers at CAESAR are designing a small, autonomous robot called ReachBot , which can deploy extendable booms from its body for gripping the walls of, say, a lava tube or rock overhang. Its creators have the Martian landscape in mind. “ReachBot can descend into a Martian lava tube, scan for geologically interesting areas, and drill into the wall to extract and transport material for analysis,” said Daniel Morton, a graduate student in mechanical engineering and one of the project’s lead researchers.

Moon endeavors

CAESAR’s kickoff event was an opportunity to showcase faculty from the School of Engineering unaffiliated with the center but interested in AI-enabled space projects.

Manan Arya , assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics, wants to anchor a 350-meter-diameter radio reflector in a crater on the far side of the moon. The goal is to shield the telescope from radio interference emanating from Earth. “The reason we want to do that is for looking at very, very early signals from the early part of the universe – a time referred to as the cosmic dark ages,” Arya said.

He explained how such a project could be achieved: A lander touches down at the bottom of a crater. The lander fires cables tipped by harpoons that anchor themselves in the regolith at the rim of the crater. Then, tiny, autonomous robots crawl up these tension cables, deploying a lightweight reflector as they go.

Grace Gao , assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics, and her lab are also shooting for the moon with several AI-related projects, including one that could help autonomous lunar robots and humans with navigation: a “GPS” system for the moon. Noting that more than 100 missions are planned for the moon over the next decade, Gao said it’s vital to provide positioning, navigation, and timing services there. They would be enabled by a low-cost satellite system in orbit around the moon. “We want to have smaller satellites – as small as a shoebox,” she said. “In comparison, the terrestrial GPS satellites are as big as a truck.” She also said clocks on the lunar satellites could be “1,000-times cheaper” because they could rely on information relayed from atomic clocks on satellites orbiting Earth.

Gao’s lab is also working with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to develop the Cooperative Autonomous Distributed Robotic Exploration, or CADRE, project, which aims to put three autonomous rovers on the moon next year. Gao’s team has developed technology to help the robots autonomously navigate while dealing with communication challenges they may experience.

Pavone and D’Amico said they hope to tap the expertise of many engineers and scientists both at Stanford and other organizations to catalyze space-related research projects at CAESAR. Addressing symposium attendees, Pavone circled back to the subject of the space foundation model, which he said will be “a game changer.” “We look forward to engaging with the many people that are here today and the space community in general to build such a capability,” he said.

ReachBot is a joint collaboration between Marco Pavone’s lab and the labs of Mark Cutkosky , the Fletcher Jones Professor in the School of Engineering and professor of mechanical engineering, and Mathieu Lapôtre , assistant professor of Earth and planetary sciences. Redwire Space and Blue Origin are co-sponsors of CAESAR.

Related : Simone D’Amico , associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics

Related : Marco Pavone , associate professor of aeronautics and astronautics

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IMAGES

Moon Phases Science Experiment
Moon Crater Science Experiment
Apollo 14 Experiments On The Moon Photograph by Nasa/science Photo
Simple Science Experiment for Kids: Why are there craters on the moon
Moon Activities for Preschoolers
Apollo 14 lunar experiments

VIDEO

Moon Experiments on Frank part 2
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Moon Experiments on Frank!
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Moon and Eclipse make a Deal?! (Animation) ||Audio: Moon Experiments on Eclipse in VRChat||

COMMENTS

The Apollo Experiment That Keeps on Giving
The Sun's gravity attracts the Moon and Earth. If this attraction depended on the composition of the two objects, it would affect the lunar orbit. Earth contains more iron than the Moon. Analysis of data from the lunar laser ranging experiment finds no difference in how gravity attracts the Moon and Earth due to their makeup.
Apollo 11 Seismic Experiment
This experiment studied the propagation of seismic waves through the Moon and provided the first detailed look at the Moon's internal structure. This instrument contained four seismometers powered by two panels of solar cells, which converted solar energy into electricity. It used three long-period seismometers and one short- period vertical ...
Moon
Learn about the different names we have for a full moon! explore; All About the Moon. The biggest planet in our solar system . explore; Make Oreo Moon Phases! For the New Moon, you must eat all the creme filling! do; Build a Moon Habitat! Help the astronauts go back to the Moon. Make No-Bake Moon Cookies!
Laser Beams Reflected Between Earth and Moon Boost Science
Laser experiments could help reveal if there's solid material in the Moon's core that would've helped power the now-extinct magnetic field. But to learn more, scientists first need to know the distance between Earth stations and the Moon reflectors to a higher degree of accuracy than the current few millimeters.
Moon Phases Demonstration
Emily Morgan, author of Next Time You See the Moon, takes you through the phases of the Moon in a demonstration that will be easy to replicate in your own cl...
Easy Moon Landing Activities for Kids
1. Moon craters and landing sites. When choosing a landing site, scientists need to understand the moon's landscape. Lading at the South Pole is especially tricky as there are lots of craters and deep trenches. Find out how craters form with a simple science demonstration using flour and cocoa powder. 2.
Activities
Recommended age: 8-13 years old. Group size: Up to 10 children working in teams of 2-3. Suggested materials: Outdoor area (such as a concrete patio or parking lot), water, 5 balloons, 5 rulers or tape measures, a towel, colored pencils/crayons/markers. Related resources: Impact Craters, New Craters on the Moon, Tour of the Moon in 4K.
NASA STEM Forward to the Moon Activity Guide
The guide uses STEM activities to share NASA's plans to go forward to the Moon by 2024. Activities include: Demonstrating sizes and distances of Earth, the International Space Station, the Moon and Mars. Making balloon rockets with a payload. Simulating gravity with magnets. Making a water filtration system with a 2-liter bottle.
Apollo astronauts left trash, mementos and experiments on the moon
This experiment uses arrays of reflectors placed on the moon by Apollo 11, 14 and 15 astronauts and anchored on two rovers left behind by the Soviets (SN: 5/20/78, p. 326). These arrays consist of ...
Activities for Students
In this strategy card game, you'll build spacecraft that can explore the Moon, Mars, and other destinations throughout our solar system while withstanding challenges thrown your way. TAGS: Earth Earth's Moon Jupiter Mars Mission to Mars Perseverance Curiosity Viking Pathfinder Ranger Apollo Artemis Design Your Spacecraft Ingenuity Helicopter ...
Moon STEM Activities to Learn About the Moon
The moon is a fascinating subject for kids. Most kids love thinking about what the moon is like and why it changes shape throughout the month. Capture the natural curiosity of kids with these moon STEM activities! This complete moon thematic unit focuses on activities for science, STEM, literacy, math, books about the moon, and moon crafts for ...
29 Moon Crafts and Activities for Kids
29 Fun and Engaging Moon Crafts and Ways to Learn about the Moon. Here's a list of over 20 fun and hands on ways to learn about the moon, from moon phases, to craters, simple moon crafts to moon coloring pages. Click the link alongside each picture for more information about that craft project or kids activity. Moon Activities for Kids.
The Greatest Physics Demo of All Time Happened on the Moon
Usually, the answer is yes. But let's replace the rock with a hammer and then just take a change of scenery and move the experiment to the moon. This is exactly what happened during the Apollo 15 ...
Phases of the Moon| Earth Science Experiments
Phases of the Moon: Learn about Earth's moon that orbits every 28 days. Students will learn many facts about the moon and see an interactive site of the phas...
21 Super Activities for Teaching Moon Phases
17. Oreo Cookie Moon Phases - Eating their way through the phases of the moon in oreos just makes the perfect hook to get kids into learning science. 18. DIY Moon Phase Puzzle - Create a long puzzle for students to explore matching phases with the correct shapes and putting them in the correct order.
6 Proven Moon Phase Activities to Engage your Students
Classroom Activities for Teaching About Lunar Phases. Observation is a powerful skill to develop in students. And observing moon phases helps to strengthen their understanding of cause and effect. Here are a few of my favorite moon phase activities to help your students dive deeper and understand why we see the different phases of the moon. 1.
6 simple astronomy experiments you can do at home
Try our experiments and show the workings of the Universe. Great for kids at home, easy for high school students in school.
The Moon and Tides
When the Moon is at first quarter or third quarter, the Sun, Earth, and Moon form an "L" shape, and the tidal bulges of the Moon and the Sun make the shape of a plus sign (+). This creates a neap tide. Neap tides have a smaller-than-normal tidal range ( lower high tides and higher low tides). Figure 3.
Moon in a box
The Moon as a ball on a pen. An experiment about lunar phases, and lunar and solar eclipses. Moon in a box. Astronomy. Look at the Moon from different directions using a box. An experiment about lunar phases. Inexhaustible bottle. Physics. The bottle that never runs out of water. About air pressure and gravity.
It's Official: Scientists Confirmed What's Inside The Moon
To figure it out once and for all, Briaud and his colleagues collected data from space missions and lunar laser-ranging experiments to compile a profile of various lunar characteristics. These include the degree of its deformation by its gravitational interaction with Earth, the variation in its distance from Earth, and its density.
The Moon and the Stars
Here is a series of the different lunar phases. The four main phases are the new moon, the first quarter moon, the full moon, and the last quarter moon. (image from Kristin and Scott Miller, Dept. of Astronomy, Univ. of Maryland) The lunar phases have a very predictable cycle. In fact, for thousands of years humans have used the lunar phases to ...
Exploring the Moon Educator Guide
Earth and space science subjects include lunar geology and regolith, distance to the moon, Apollo landing sites and life support systems. Exploring the Moon Educator Guide [7MB PDF file] Note: A new version of the Impact Craters activity can be found here: Impact Craters - NASA. These activities explore features of the moon and discoveries ...
Phases of the Moon
The lunar month is the 29.53 days it takes to go from one new moon to the next. During the lunar month, the Moon goes through all its phases. You can see the phases drawn in the image below. Just like the Earth, half of the Moon is lit by the Sun while the other half is in darkness.
50+ Moon Crafts for Kids and Activities too!
Moon Unit Study from 123 Homeschool 4 Me - This free printable, hands on educational unit has everything you need to teach kids about the moon. These engaging activities are sure to make the information stick for Prek-6th graders. To give you an idea of all the resources in this moon unit, you will find: printable moon phases mini book, printable to make Oreo moon phases, solar system ...
Resources for Kids
NASA is launching a spacecraft called Europa Clipper to determine whether there are places below the surface of Jupiter's icy moon, Europa, that could support life. La NASA está lanzando una nave espacial llamada Europa Clipper para determinar si hay lugares debajo de la superficie de Europa, la ...
Intuitive Machines Wins $117M NASA Contract For Deliveries To Moon's
Intuitive Machines will receive $116.9 million to deliver six NASA payloads to the Moon's South Pole in 2027. The new set of science experiments and technology demonstrations are part of the ...
Novel strategy proposed for massive water production on the moon
In-situ heating experiments indicated that hydrogen in lunar minerals is a substantial resource for producing water on the moon. Such water could be used both for drinking and irrigating plants.
Art Inspired by Space
Check out these activities to explore these questions and create your own space-inspired art! ... Step 2: Cut slits in the moon from the middle and slide them into one another. Cut both circles. Be careful to keep it nice and round, just like the Moon! Make a dot in the center of each circle. Cut a slit in both circles, all the way to the ...
86 Good Night Quotes That Will Bring Peaceful Sleep
"The moon will guide you through the night with her brightness, but she will always dwell in the darkness, in order to be seen." - Shannon L. Adler "Night is purer than day; it is better for thinking, loving, and dreaming. At night everything is more intense, more true. The echo of words that have been spoken during the day takes on a new ...
New center harnesses AI to advance autonomous exploration of outer
Moon endeavors. CAESAR's kickoff event was an opportunity to showcase faculty from the School of Engineering unaffiliated with the center but interested in AI-enabled space projects. Manan Arya, assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics, wants to anchor a 350-meter-diameter radio reflector in a crater on the far side of the moon ...