Skip to Main Content

Moon Shapes

Why does the shape of the moon appear to change each night? Students will explore the eight phases of the moon and create a nighttime scene.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Black or Dark Construction Paper

Steps

  • Step 1

    Have a discussion about the moon in the night sky. Ask students to describe some of the shapes they see. Is it a full moon or circle? A half-circle or half circle? A partial moon that looks like a crescent? Explain that the moon does not produce its own light. When we see the moon we are seeing sunlight reflecting off the moon's surface. This view changes depending on where the moon is in its orbit around the Earth, and it goes through eight phases, or shapes: new, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full, waning gibbous, third quarter, and waning crescent. Have students research images of these shapes.

  • Step 2

    Have students draw pictures of the eight phases of the moon at the top of a piece of dark construction paper using construction paper crayons. Then ask them to create a night scene of their choice that illustrates life on Earth (either on land or in the sea).

  • Step 3

    Have students present their nighttime scenes and talk about the shapes of the moon and the scene they chose to depict.

Standards

MATH: Create models that demonstrate math concepts and attend to precision. 

MATH: Describe, compare, quantify, and classify objects by attributes. Sort objects into categories. 

SCI: Design pictorial or graphic representations/models that are useful in communicating ideas. 

Adaptations

Encourage students to look at the moon each night for a month and quickly sketch its shape. Have them arrange their drawings in chronological order to see the progression of the moon's phases.

Have students explore lunar holidays These might include Lunar New Year celebrated in Asia and elsewhere that begins on the first new moon of the year, Rosh Hashanah which is a Jewish high holy day that begins on the day of the first new moon of autumn, and Ramadan which is an Islamic holiday that begins in the ninth month of the lunar calendar. How are they celebrated? What are some traditional foods associated with the holiday?

Play a brief video of Michael Jackson doing the moonwalk.