Activity

Aim : To investigate the occurence of day and night due to the rotation of the Earth.

Procedure:

1     A globe and an electric torch are used to carry out the activity.
2     The apparatus is set up as shown below.

3     The globe is spinned slowly from the west to the east.
4     The observations are recorded.

Observation:

Inferences:

1     The side of the globe facing towards the torch is lighted. The light represents daytime.
2     The side of the globe facing away from the torch is in darkness. The darkness represents night-time.

Conclusion:

The rotation of the Earth on its axis causes the occurrence of day and night. 

Activity

Aim: To simulate and observe the phases of the Moon

Procedure:

1     This activity must be carried out in a dark room.
2     A stick is pierced through the centre of a polystyrene ball to represent the Moon.
3     An electric torch is placed in the room to represent the Sun.
4     The polystyrene ball is held by the observer at arm's length between the torch and his eyes.
5     The half surface of the ball facing the observer is observed.
6     The observations are recorded in the form of drawings.
7     Together with his arm, the observer turns 45 degree to the left (anticlockwise).
       He observes the surface of the ball facing him and records its apperarance.
8     Step 7 is repeated for all the other positions given in the following diagram.

Inferences:

1     We see different parts of the Moon at different times because the angles between the Moon, the Earth and the Sun are changing all the time.

2     When the Moon is farthest from the Sun, half of the surface of the Moon is illuminated. This is known as the full moon.


Conclusion:

The phases of the Moon are caused by the movement of the Moon around the Earth and its changing position relative to the Sun.

More exercises- paper I

Choose the best answer.

1     The figure below shows one of the phases of the Moon.

        The name of the phase is ____ .

        A     waxing crescent                   B     first quarter      

        C     new moon                           D     full moon


2     The figure below shows sunlight falling onto the surface of the Earth.

         









       Which of the places labbelled P, Q, R and S is experiencing dawn?

       A        P                                       B       Q                   

       C       R                                        D        S



3      The figure below shows the Earth and its natural satellite.

       The time taken for the satellite to move around the Earth once is ______ .

       A       a lunar year                      B     a solar year        

      C      a lunar month                     D     a solar month


4     The figure below shows two phases of the moon.

       What are the names of the phase L and phase M?

                L                                          M

       A     first quarter                         waxing gibbous

       B     waxing gibbous                    first quarter

       C     waxing crescent                   first quarter

       D     waxing crescent                   waxing gibbous

5     The figure below shows the various positions of the Moon in its orbit around the Earth.

   








        Which position, J, K, L or M , is the position of a new moon?

       A      J                                        B       K                         
 
       C      L                                       D       M





     Answers:

     1    A                  2     B                  3    C                  4    D                   5     C

Exercises-paper II

1    The below figure shows an experiment carried out to investigate the effects of the rotation of the Earth. 

      a     What is represented by

      i      the globe:_______________________________________  ( 1 mark )

      ii     the electric torch:__________________________________  ( 1 mark )  

      b     Which point, A or B, on the globe will receive the light first?

             ______________________________________________   (1 mark )

      c     Write an inference for your answer in (b).

            _______________________________________________  ( 1 mark )

      d     What is the main occurrence that results from the rotation of the Earth on its axis?

             _______________________________________________  ( 1 mark )

      e     State what would happen if the Earth stopped rotating.

             _______________________________________________  ( 1 mark )




Answers:

1ai     The Earth
    ii     The Sun

  b      A
  c      The Earth rotates from the west to the east on its axis.
  d      The occurrence of day and night.
  e      One half of the surface of the Earth would have continuous daylight while the other half continuous darkness.

Exercises

Choose the correct answer.

1     Which of the following is the result of the Earth's rotation on its axis?
   
       A     earthquakes
       B     The four seasons
       C     Occurrence of day and night
       D     Formation of waves on the sea

2     The picture belows shows four position, P, Q, R & S, on the Earth.

       Which position is currently experiencing midnight?

       A.     P          B.     Q          C.     R          D.      S 

3     Which of the following is correct about the shadow of an object and the tme the shadow is formed?

4    We do not see the Moon during daytime because

      A     the Earth bolcks sunlight from falling on the surface of the Moon

      B     the Moon is always on the side of the Earth that is in darkness

      C     the Moon doew not reflect sunlight during daytime

      D     the Sun is much brighter than the Moon

5     Which of the following shows the correct sequence of the phases of the Moon?

Answers: 1  C     2  A     3  A     4  D     5  C     

Science class activities

Science class activities

Explanation on how the Moon move around the Earth and how the Earth move around the Sun.

             

  

  Pupils draw the movement of the Moon and the Earth.
                      

                                           Discussion

The Phases of the Moon

The Moon is the Earth's only natural satellite.
The Moon does not give out light.
It appears as a bright object in the sky at night because it reflects light from the Sun.
If the Moon is observed every night, one can see taht:
-the Moon rises at different times each night.
-the shape of the moon appears to change.
This happens because as the Moon travels in its orbit, the Sun shines on different parts of the Moon.
This makes the appear to change its shape each night.
The different shapes of the Moon we see as it orbits the Earth are known as the phases of the Moon.



A full moon is the lunar phase seen when the whole of the Moon's lit side is facing Earth. This phase happens when Earth is between the Moon and the Sun. About one week later, the Moon enters the quarter-moon phase. At this point, the Moon appears as a half-circle, since only half of the Moon's lit surface is visible from Earth. When the Moon moves between Earth and the Sun, the side facing Earth is completely dark. This is called the new moon phase, and we do not usually see the Moon at this point. Sometimes you can just barely make out the outline of the new moon in the sky. This is because some sunlight reflects off the Earth and hits the moon. Before and after the quarter-moon phases are the gibbous and crescent phases. During the gibbous moon phase, the moon is more than half lit but not full. During the crescent moon phase, the moon is less than half lit and is seen as only a sliver or crescent shape.




It takes about 29.5 days for the Moon to revolve around Earth and go through all the phases.

Day and Night

Day and night happens because the Earth rotates on its axis.



Photographer Stephen Wilkes creates remarkable images of night and day at once by setting up his camera to take pictures of a single scene over and over for 15 hours. He then blends the images to get this time-defying effect…




The parts of the world that are in daylight get warmer while the parts that are dark gradually lose the heat they absorbed during the day.




As the Earth rotates, different sides of the Earth face towards the Sun or face away from the Sun.





The Earth's relationship with the sun also creates seasons.





As the Earth spins on its axis, parts of the planet are in the sun while others are in the shade. In other words, the sun appears to rise and set.

The movement of the Moon

The Moon is the Earth's only natural satellite. Like the Earth, the Moon also rotates on its axis.

Video source from youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx8lfcrxw6s

Although we see the Moon all the time, many of us do not take time to consider our planet’s only satellite. The Moon is the fifth largest satellite in our Solar System. Considering Jupiter alone has 63 moons, this is pretty impressive. The Moon is the closest celestial object to Earth and apart from the Sun is the brightest object in the sky.

Its gravity is only about 17% of the Earth’s gravity. Since the Moon has very little atmosphere, its temperature varies radically from -153°C to 107°C on average. However, temperatures as low as -249°C have been recorded. The Moon is fairly large for a satellite, but it is quite a bit smaller than our own planet. Its diameter is one-fourth the diameter of Earth, but its mass is only 1.2% of the Earth’s mass. Its density is surprisingly low, with the satellite having only roughly half the density of Earth.

Because the Moon is in synchronous orbit with Earth, one side faces our planet at all times. The most we have been able to see directly is 59% of the Moon due to small changes in the orbit. We were unable to see the other side of the Moon until probes were able to photograph it. Although the far side of the Moon is often called the dark side of the Moon that is inaccurate. The far side of the Moon actually receives as much lights as the near side of the Moon does.

You may not know it, but there is water ice on the Moon. The water ice is located in large reservoirs at both poles of the planet where it is hidden from the Sun in deep craters. The water would not be able to exist in liquid form on the satellite because the Moon has no atmosphere to hold the water on the surface.

Read more: http://www.universetoday.com/19424/the-moon/#ixzz2CtaHzj7J

The movement of the Earth and the Moon

The movement of the Earth

The Earth is constantly spinning on its axis. The spinning motion of the Earth on its axis is called rotation. The axis is an imaginary line through the Earth linking the North and the South poles. The Earth takes 24 hours to complete a full rotation on its axis.




The Earth rotates from the west to the east. So, the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west. As the Earth spins about its own axis, it also moves around the Sun. The Earth moves around the Sun in a fixed path known as the orbit.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkWyM-M8o0c&feature=player_detailpage

It takes the Earth one year to make a complete journey around the Sun.

The Earth, the Moon and the Sun

Our Earth is a beautiful planet in our solar system. The Earth has a natural satellite. It is the Moon. The Earth and the Moon move around the Sun.



The moon is caught between Earth and the space shuttle Discovery in this photo taken in 1988. This shuttle mission marked the return of U.S. Senator—and pioneering astronaut—John Glenn to space.

picture source from http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/photos/earth-moon-gallery/#/indian-ocean-space_1005_600x450.jpg





The sun is a star, a hot ball of glowing gases at the heart of our solar system. Its influence extends far beyond the orbits of distant Neptune and Pluto. Without the sun's intense energy and heat, there would be no life on Earth. And though it is special to us, there are billions of stars like our sun scattered across the Milky Way galaxy.