Concept E: Moon Phases

Way to Go P.U. astronomy students!!! You've made it to graduation, congratulations!!! Well, almost...

Let's have a quick re-cap of some enduring understandings you should be able to takeaway from this course about the phases of the moon:

1.  Can you answer this EssentialQuestion:  How do the phases of the moon depend on the relative positions of the sun, moon, and Earth?

2.  Could you explain to a 4^th grader how the moon gets its light (a.k.a. illumination)?

3.  If the moon changes its face in a complete cycle that spans over 29 and days (or 29.5 days for you decimal lovers); is this due to the revolution or rotation of the moon? Explain.

4.  If I gave you 8 seconds to recap the sequence of the main phases of the moon, how many phases would you name per second? Could you tell me the order of the phases if you were in the Northern hemisphere or the Southern hemisphere?

5.  EXTRA CHALLENGE: would you be able to draw the sequence of the 8 major ("cardinal") moon phases in a diagram regardless of the sun's position in the diagram?

Just for fun,here are some additional sites to check out on a moon-lit night. ENJOY!