Summary
Walks through the moon's phases — new, waxing, full, waning — as a repeating monthly pattern in the sky.
Viewer safety
All ages
Gentle animated educational content, safe to show cold; still worth a quick preview to match it to your lesson.
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Teaching resources
Discussion questions
Talk about it
The moon seems to change shape in a repeating pattern each month. We see different amounts of its sunlit side as it circles Earth.
- What do we call the moon when we can't see it at all?
- Is the moon really changing shape, or is it something else?
- How long does it take the moon to go through all its phases?
Quick work-a-long
Vocabulary: phase, full moon, new moon, pattern.
Try it: Look at the moon for several nights (or track it online). Draw its shape each night and describe the pattern.