What time of day is the sun at its highest point overhead?
Noon/Midday
100
How long does it take the Earth to orbit the Sun?
What is one year or 365 days.
100
How long does it take the Moon to orbit the Earth?
What is four weeks or one month
100
What is the difference between a waxing a waning moon?
What is waxing moon appears to be getting larger. Waning moon appears to be getting smaller.
100
What is an orbit?
What is the path an object takes as it travels around another object.
200
What time of day are the shadows longest?
What are sunrise and sunset.
200
What season of the year is the Sun's path low in the sky?
What is winter?
200
Is the moon more like a mirror or a street light? Explain.
It is more like a mirror because it does not make its own light. It reflects the Sun's light.
200
The Sun rises in the east because the Earth rotates in which direction?
What is west to east.
200
Define revolve.
What is to move around another object in a circular way.
300
Why does the Sun's position in the sky seem to change?
What is because the Earth is always rotating or turning.
300
Why do places near the equator stay the same temperature (warm) all year long?
What is because the of the angle of the earth's axis the same amount of sunlight hits equator all year long.
300
Why does the Moon's shape seem to change?
What is because of its orbit. Depending on what part of lit by the sun and where on Earth you are seeing it.
300
What season is it when the southern half of the Earth is tilted away from the Sun?
What is winter.
300
Define lunar cycle.
What is the four week cycle of the changing phases of the moon. The full sequence of the Moon's phases.
400
What causes day and night?
The rotating of the Earth. One side faces the sun causing daylight, the other side of the Earth faces away from the sun causing nighttime.
400
What time of year is it when the North pole is tilted toward the Sun? How does this affect this part of the Earth?
What is Summer/June. The days are longer. More of the sun's energy (light) reaches this part of the Earth which makes it warmer and days longer.
400
When can you see a full Moon?
What is the full Moon appears 14 days after the new moon (halfway through a lunar cycle).
400
How do Earth and Moon move through space?
What is the Earth revolves around the Sun while the moon orbits the Earth.
400
What does it mean to rotate?
What is to turn.
500
Describe Earth's axis.
It is an imaginary line from the North pole to the South pole through the center of the earth
500
How are rotating and revolving different?
What is rotating is a spinning motion around an axis; revolving is motion in a path around another object.
500
What are the eight main phases of the moon?
What is new moon, waxing crescent moon, first quarter moon, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, last (3rd) quarter moon, and waning crescent moon.
500
If half of the moon is always lit by the Sun, why don't we always see a full moon?
What is because of the Moon's orbit around the Earth. The amount of of its lit side visible from Earth is always changing because the moon is always moving in its Lunar cycle.
500
Describe what happens during a Lunar eclipse?
The Moon moves into the Earth's shadow. The Earth moves between the Sun and the Moon. This only happens when the Moon passes though part of the Earth's shadow and the Sun's light is blocked. As a result, part or all of the Sun's light is unable to reach the Moon resulting in dark areas that are left out of view.