Key Concepts
Test Questions
Vocabulary 1
Vocabulary 2
Moon Phases
100
How does the light from the sun travel?
In straight lines.
100
No, it's not accurate because only the half of the Moon that is facing the sun is lit by the sun, and the other half is dark
100
To shine light on an object and make it visible
What is illuminate?
100
The star that is the main source of light at the center of our solar system
What is the sun?
100
A moon phase that looks like a full circle from Earth.
What is full moon?
200
What causes half of the Moon to be illuminated?
The sun.
200
Location 1
200
Something we observe to be similar over and over again
What is a pattern?
200
The border between light and dark on the moon.
What is the terminator?
200
A moon phase that looks like half a circle from Earth
What is quarter moon?
300
What fraction of the Moon is illuminated at all times?
Half.
300
The diagram above shows Earth and the Moon from above (top view). Why is there a dotted circle drawn in this diagram?
To show that the Moon is always moving around Earth in a circle.
300
A moon phase that looks like more than a half circle from Earth
What is a gibbous moon?
300
The amount of time it takes for a planet to complete one orbit around a star or stars
What is year?
300
A moon phase where the Moon is not visible from the Earth
What is new moon?
400
How long does it take the Moon to complete one full orbit around Earth?
29.5 days OR 1 month
400
Leticia is a space scientist who made this diagram of the Moon and Earth as seen from above (top view), with sunlight coming from the left, as shown by the arrows. Why does Leticia’s diagram show that it’s brighter on the left half of the Moon?
Because half of the Moon that is facing the sun is lit by the sun, and the other half is dark.
400
The sun, the planets that orbit the sun, and other objects that orbit the sun
What is a solar system?
400
The relative size of things.
What is scale?
400
This phenomena occurs when the sun, earth and moon are perfectly aligned.
What is lunar eclipse?
500
What causes us to see only part of the illuminated half during most phases?
We see different amounts of the illuminated light depending on the orbit and position of the moon.
500
Shira looked up one night and saw a full moon. How long will it be before she can see a full moon again?
In one month.
500
An object, diagram, or computer program that helps us understand something by making it simpler or easier to see
What is a model?
500
The nearly circular path a smaller object travels around a larger object.
What is orbit?
500
A moon phase that looks like less than a half circle from Earth
What is crescent moon?