Sharing Observations of the Moon

Unfortunately, the moon has not been visible over the past week. A few students were able to see a fully-lit moon at the beginning of the month. One of the students was able make an observation Sunday night at 9:00 pm and reported seeing a moon that was skinny and only partially lit. Kortney asked the students to make predictions for how they thought the moon's shape would change over the course of the coming week:
Table One: The shadow is rotating, so the moon will become more lit.
Table Two: We won't see the full moon until next month.
Table Three: Now we'll start seeing the moon again, and the lit portion will be on the opposite side.

Kortney asked the students to talk in small groups about what they predict they might be seeing next. She suggested that each small group agree on a question that they could answer by making multiple observations. She also asked them to determine how they could make the observations they need to make.

Next, we gave each of the students a blank calendar that they should use to record their moon observations every day, weather permitting.