Phases of the Moon

First graders are learning about how the moon, sun, and earth travel and interact to create night and day. We read about the phases of the moon and how the sun creates day and night. Then, the students created a moon phase cycle. They did a great job!

Another fun way to practice the phases is this site from ScienceNetLinks in which you drag pictures of the moon to correct spots in the lunar phase calendar. It works great with a SMARTboard or other interactive white board. For more fun, add in wonders from Wonderopolis like this one about what the moon does and includes an experiment on how to make your own tide. You can use something like this sheet to have students track information they learn about the moon, but I prefer having the kids make a little booklet of some sort instead.  Add in some math and find out how much you weigh on the moon or other planets, then figure it into a fraction or ratio. You could also discuss hoax sites and how not everything on the internet is true with a site like this one. There are so many ways you can add to a moon lesson including creative writing about a trip to the moon or living on the moon in the future!