Title: Phases of the Moon
Grade Level: 2nd
Objectives:
·
To
learn the phases of the moon and the relative motion of the Earth and Moon around
the Sun.
·
To
understand that the phases of the moon are cyclical.
Big
Ideas:
1. The moon is seen by reflected light
from the sun.
2. Our Moon orbits Earth, while Earth
orbits the Sun.
3. The Moon’s phases as observed from
Earth are the result of seeing different portions of the lighted area of the
Moon’s surface.
4. The phases repeat in a cyclical
pattern in about one month.
Materials and Technology
o Books about the moon: The Moon Book by Gail Gibbons and Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle
o Flip chart with K-W-L written across the top
o Oreo cookies (each student will need 8)
o Plastic knives
o Handouts:
§ K-W-L chart
§ The Moon Notebook
§ The Phases of the Moon
§ Blank Moon Phase Calendar
Technology:
o Computer with Internet access
o Projector with Document Camera
o Interactive whiteboard
o BrainPOP account
Procedure
1. Engage
and Activate Prior Knowledge
Display the books about the moon. Explain
to students that they will be studying the moon. Begin by asking them to think about
what the moon looks like and what they already know about the moon. Pass out
the K-W-L sheet. Have students share what they already know about the moon and
what they would like to know about it and record their responses on the chart
paper as they record on the handout. Next, engage students with active viewing
by playing the BrianPOPJr movie “The Moon.” (Project the movie onto the
whiteboard, be sure to turn on closed-captioning).
2. Introduce
New Vocabulary
Introduce and discuss the following
vocabulary words: The moon, phases, waxing, waning, orbit, revolve, rotate, and
crater. Have students add these words and
draw a picture for each in their science notebooks.
3. Hands-On
Activity: Oreo Moon Madness
1.
Read the book Papa, Please
Get the Moon for Me by Eric Carle. Be
sure to point out the different phases of the moon that are shown as you go
through the book.
2.
Pass out “The
Phases of the Moon” worksheet, plastic knives, and 8 Oreo cookies (tops
removed-only need the side with crème filling). Explain to students that as you
read this next story, they will be creating the different phases of the moon by
scraping the crème filling off of the cookie to match the pictures in the book.
3.
Read The Moon Book by Gail Gibbons. Pause
after each phase. Model for students and guide them to scrape of the crème filling
for each phase.
4.
Once all 8 phases are complete, model and instruct
students to remove the cookie from the paper (one at a time!) and draw the
phase in the blank circle to match the cookie. Do this one phase at a time,
discussing as you go through each phase. Students may eat their cookies after
they have colored in each phase!
3. Review
and Reinforce
Pass out “The Moon Notebook” handout.
Read over the questions with the class. Explain to students that they will
watch the BrainPOP video again, and this time they are going to take notes. Show
students the short video on the Moon again. Review students’ answers to the
four questions.
As a class, take the online quizzes
together (Easy and Hard) and discuss each of the questions/answers.
Next, go over what students learned.
Add this information to the K-W-L chart and have students do the same. Recap
the key concepts and vocabulary of the lesson, and answer any remaining
questions the students may have.
4.
Explore
During center time, have students
log-on to BrainPOPJr (using student computers) and explore each of the different
activities for the Moon (Write about it, draw about it, talk about it,
activity, word wall, quizzes, game).
5.
Assess
-Multiple Choice Quiz: Print
out both the easy and the hard quizzes from BrainPOPJr for a total of ten
multiple choice questions to be graded.
-Performance Tasks:
1.
Pass
out blank Phases of the Moon sheets (same sheet used for Oreo activity).
Students will need to draw each phase correctly.
2.
Print
and pass out the Activity page from BrainPOPJr-The Moon. Students must look at
the picture and identify the phase of the Moon that we see from Earth and explain
why.
Homework: Students will be
responsible for keeping a moon calendar for the month. They will draw what the
moon looks like each night.
Just
for Fun Activity-Make Moon Sand:
6 cups of play sand (from home and
garden store)
3 cups corn starch
1 ½ cups cold water
Thoroughly mix water and cornstarch
until smooth (several minutes).
Gradually mix in sand with hands, one
cup at a time.
Store in an airtight container.
To freshen, add 2 – 3 tablespoons of
water
1. Content: What is the content you are teaching and what are the big ideas? What are the challenging concepts that students struggle with or are difficult to teach?
I am teaching students basic facts about the moon and about the different phases of the moon. Understanding the phases of the moon can be a tricky concept for a child in elementary school. The idea that the Earth revolves around the Sun while the moon revolves around the Earth, all while rotating, can be difficult for students to understand.
The big ideas are:
-Moons are seen by reflected light from the sun.
-Our Moon orbits Earth, while Earth orbits the Sun.
-The Moon’s phases as observed from Earth are the result of seeing different portions of the lighted area of the Moon’s surface.
-The phases repeat in a cyclical pattern in about one month.
2. Pedagogy: What pedagogical strategies are you using and why? What theories of learning inform your strategies? What learner characteristics did you take into consideration?
I use a variety of teaching strategies throughout this lesson because I think that children learn best when they are exposed to content in a variety of ways. The constructivist and cognitive theories of learning are what guide my lesson. The learner is an active thinker, explainer, interpreter and questioner throughout this lesson. I tried to take all different types of learner characteristics into consideration because I know that learners bring a large variety of skills, needs, interests and experiences with them. Students will learn through books, videos, drawings, diagrams, verbal explanations and hands-on activities--as well as through interactive activities on BrainPOPJr. I wanted to vary the diversity of learning situations so that students can transfer what they learn. My role as the teacher is to facilitate the students constructing of their own knowledge. This means I will provide appropriate questions to get the students thinking, provide opportunity for application, and guide them to appropriate observations that will help them to refine, correct and extend their knowledge.
3. Content & Pedagogy: How do these particular strategies help you teach the content mentioned above? Why choose these strategies over other approaches? Are there any technical or physical constraints that figured significantly into your choices?
It helps to use a variety of strategies to teach students about the moon and its phases because students have many misconceptions about the moon that need to be addressed. I know that their own perceptions about the world can have a profound effect on their willingness to accept other, more scientifically grounded explanations of how the world works. In order for conceptual change to take place, students need multiple opportunities to work with the content in authentic contexts and experiences that make the learning visible.
4. Technology: What technology will you be using and why? Is the use of this technology absolutely necessary to achieve your objective? That is, would be impossible to teach the lesson without it? Remember that content specific technology (e.g., probes, graphing calculators, Geometer’s Sketchpad, United Streaming videos) are used to teach a content-specific concepts, whereas content-general technologies (e.g., Flash animation, Web 2.0 technologies) may facilitate deeper understanding by allowing students to manipulate information, explore a “network of ideas,” and investigate multiple representations of material.
The technology that I chose to use is a website called BrainPopJr because it is an educational website with hundreds of short, animated movies covering a wide array of topics for students in grades K-12. This website offers not only movies but also interactive games, quizzes, experiments, and activities. It would not be impossible to teach the lesson without this technology, but it affords students the opportunity to grasp a difficult concept—the phases of the moon. I believe that students will develop a deeper understanding through the animations and explanations in the video, and it will help students to visualize abstract ideas. The interactive games, activities, and quizzes allow students to explore and investigate this concept further.
5. Technology & Pedagogy: How does the technology you have chosen fit with your pedagogical strategies and theories about learning? What types of learning strategies are employed by the technology?
This technology fits within my teaching strategies and theories about learning because students are able to actively construct their own knowledge. It is a great tool to stimulate, motivate, and educate students. They are provided multiple opportunities to connect new information to prior knowledge and restructure their prior knowledge. I think BrainPOP is a great tool because it makes the learning active and enjoyable for students.
6. Technology & Content: How does your choice of technology help you teach the "big ideas" and address the essential questions underlying the concept your lesson addresses?
It is not possible or practical to take the students outside at night and discuss the phases of the moon over the course of a lunar month. BrainPOP brings the big ideas about the moon and its phases to life for students. The short video does a great job of introducing the complex concept of the moon and its phases. It uses pictures and explanations that students can actually understand. This is important because learning the fundamental principles about the moon will help students to better understand the world around them.
7. Assessment: What do you want your students to know, and how will you know when they know it? How will you assess what students have learned? What role does technology play in these assessments?
I would like students to be able to identify the different phases of the moon and to be able to explain that the Moon’s phases as observed from Earth are the result of seeing different portions of the lighted area of the Moon’s surface. They should also know that these phases repeat in a cyclical pattern about once a month. Students will have the opportunity to practice taking the online quizzes on BrainPOPJr. At the end of the lesson I will print this quiz out (from BrainPOP) to be graded. I will also give students a performance task where they will have to draw the phases (they will be given the names of the phases). This will be the same (blank) picture that they used for the Oreo activity. They will also be given a picture (from BrianPOP) where they will have to write about what phase of the Moon is seen from Earth and why. The technology plays a large role in these assessments because they are based off of the information presented in the video and the activities from BrainPOP.
1. Content: What is the content you are teaching and what are the big ideas? What are the challenging concepts that students struggle with or are difficult to teach?
I am teaching students basic facts about the moon and about the different phases of the moon. Understanding the phases of the moon can be a tricky concept for a child in elementary school. The idea that the Earth revolves around the Sun while the moon revolves around the Earth, all while rotating, can be difficult for students to understand.
The big ideas are:
-Moons are seen by reflected light from the sun.
-Our Moon orbits Earth, while Earth orbits the Sun.
-The Moon’s phases as observed from Earth are the result of seeing different portions of the lighted area of the Moon’s surface.
-The phases repeat in a cyclical pattern in about one month.
2. Pedagogy: What pedagogical strategies are you using and why? What theories of learning inform your strategies? What learner characteristics did you take into consideration?
I use a variety of teaching strategies throughout this lesson because I think that children learn best when they are exposed to content in a variety of ways. The constructivist and cognitive theories of learning are what guide my lesson. The learner is an active thinker, explainer, interpreter and questioner throughout this lesson. I tried to take all different types of learner characteristics into consideration because I know that learners bring a large variety of skills, needs, interests and experiences with them. Students will learn through books, videos, drawings, diagrams, verbal explanations and hands-on activities--as well as through interactive activities on BrainPOPJr. I wanted to vary the diversity of learning situations so that students can transfer what they learn. My role as the teacher is to facilitate the students constructing of their own knowledge. This means I will provide appropriate questions to get the students thinking, provide opportunity for application, and guide them to appropriate observations that will help them to refine, correct and extend their knowledge.
3. Content & Pedagogy: How do these particular strategies help you teach the content mentioned above? Why choose these strategies over other approaches? Are there any technical or physical constraints that figured significantly into your choices?
It helps to use a variety of strategies to teach students about the moon and its phases because students have many misconceptions about the moon that need to be addressed. I know that their own perceptions about the world can have a profound effect on their willingness to accept other, more scientifically grounded explanations of how the world works. In order for conceptual change to take place, students need multiple opportunities to work with the content in authentic contexts and experiences that make the learning visible.
4. Technology: What technology will you be using and why? Is the use of this technology absolutely necessary to achieve your objective? That is, would be impossible to teach the lesson without it? Remember that content specific technology (e.g., probes, graphing calculators, Geometer’s Sketchpad, United Streaming videos) are used to teach a content-specific concepts, whereas content-general technologies (e.g., Flash animation, Web 2.0 technologies) may facilitate deeper understanding by allowing students to manipulate information, explore a “network of ideas,” and investigate multiple representations of material.
The technology that I chose to use is a website called BrainPopJr because it is an educational website with hundreds of short, animated movies covering a wide array of topics for students in grades K-12. This website offers not only movies but also interactive games, quizzes, experiments, and activities. It would not be impossible to teach the lesson without this technology, but it affords students the opportunity to grasp a difficult concept—the phases of the moon. I believe that students will develop a deeper understanding through the animations and explanations in the video, and it will help students to visualize abstract ideas. The interactive games, activities, and quizzes allow students to explore and investigate this concept further.
5. Technology & Pedagogy: How does the technology you have chosen fit with your pedagogical strategies and theories about learning? What types of learning strategies are employed by the technology?
This technology fits within my teaching strategies and theories about learning because students are able to actively construct their own knowledge. It is a great tool to stimulate, motivate, and educate students. They are provided multiple opportunities to connect new information to prior knowledge and restructure their prior knowledge. I think BrainPOP is a great tool because it makes the learning active and enjoyable for students.
6. Technology & Content: How does your choice of technology help you teach the "big ideas" and address the essential questions underlying the concept your lesson addresses?
It is not possible or practical to take the students outside at night and discuss the phases of the moon over the course of a lunar month. BrainPOP brings the big ideas about the moon and its phases to life for students. The short video does a great job of introducing the complex concept of the moon and its phases. It uses pictures and explanations that students can actually understand. This is important because learning the fundamental principles about the moon will help students to better understand the world around them.
7. Assessment: What do you want your students to know, and how will you know when they know it? How will you assess what students have learned? What role does technology play in these assessments?
I would like students to be able to identify the different phases of the moon and to be able to explain that the Moon’s phases as observed from Earth are the result of seeing different portions of the lighted area of the Moon’s surface. They should also know that these phases repeat in a cyclical pattern about once a month. Students will have the opportunity to practice taking the online quizzes on BrainPOPJr. At the end of the lesson I will print this quiz out (from BrainPOP) to be graded. I will also give students a performance task where they will have to draw the phases (they will be given the names of the phases). This will be the same (blank) picture that they used for the Oreo activity. They will also be given a picture (from BrianPOP) where they will have to write about what phase of the Moon is seen from Earth and why. The technology plays a large role in these assessments because they are based off of the information presented in the video and the activities from BrainPOP.
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