Lab_3_Phases_of_Moon___Tides_S24.pdf

Lab 3: Phases of the Moon & Tides Name: Group Name: Lab 3: Phases of the Moon & Tides The Moon is one of the most noticeable features in the sky. When there is a full Moon, the sky is lit up much more brightly and is up at night. When there is what is called a new Moon, the Moon is not illuminated by the Sun, and is also not up at night—it instead rises in the sky at dawn with the Sun and sets at sunset (you can see the new Moon if you look for it on a clear day). With a little bit of watching, one can see the Moon’s appearance go through a regular pattern of new to waxing to full to waning to new again. We'll explore the cause of these monthly variations today. Credit: Griﬃth Observatory If you are very observant and watch the Moon over long periods of time, you might notice we always see the same side of the Moon. We'll also explore today why that is! Now, we are going to set up some activities and work in our lab groups to explore why these phases happen and see how tides and the Moon are related. 1

Lab 3: Phases of the Moon & Tides PART A: GROUP MOON ACTIVITY 1. Place the styrofoam ball on the wooden rod. 2. You will be given a ﬂashlight on a stand. The ﬂashlight represents the sun, the white ball represents the moon and your head represents the earth. Imagine your nose as a giant mountain on the Earth's northern hemisphere with a tiny person standing on it, looking at the Moon. 3. Hold the wooden rod with the white ball on it at arm's length in front of you and a little above your head. Slowly rotate your body, keeping the “Moon” in front of you and watching as various parts of the white ball become lit and/or shaded. 4. Switch off with your groupmates, and see how the moon looks different from a different perspective. You won’t be able to see the phases very well when you are not the “Earth”. Questions: A1. Draw diagrams showing the positions of the ﬂashlight, your head, and the white ball (all as seen from the ceiling) for each of the following phases: (3 pts) a. Full Moon (the part of the ball that you can see is fully lit): b. Quarter Moon (the part of the ball that you can see is half lit): c. New Moon (the part of the ball that you can see is not lit): 2

Lab 3: Phases of the Moon & Tides A2. At any given time, what percentage of the model moon is actually lit? Why? If you are unsure of the answer to this question, watch the white ball as the other members of your lab group repeat the activity described above. (2 pts) A3. Under what conditions is there an eclipse in this demonstration? Given that, on real Earth, there are not lunar or solar eclipses every month, what must be true about the orbit of the Moon around the Earth? (3 pts) A4. Now, choose one person to model the Moon and another person to model Earth. Have both people stand up and then have the “Moon” revolve around “Earth”, so that Earth can only see the Moon's face, never the back of the Moon's head. For each 360° revolution of the Moon around Earth, how many times did the Moon rotate (spin about its axis) 360°? Explain. Note: It helps if the person acting as the Moon can pay attention to an external reference point and notice if/how they rotate. (3 pts) 3

Lab 3: Phases of the Moon & Tides A5. Watch this short video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jUpX7J7ySo and then answer the following questions. What is tidal locking? What does that mean for how we view the Moon on Earth? Is it common or rare that a planet’s moon is tidally locked in our solar system? (4 pts) 4

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