Motions of the Earth and Moon
Name ______
Class Period______
Advisor______
Response Bank: Match the ideas in the box with the statements below.
(a) Solar eclipse(b) New Moon
(c) Summer in the southern hemisphere
(d) Autumn
(e) Chemical clock for response to length of daylight
(f) Spring equinox
(g) Moon’s period of rotation equals its period of revolution
(h) Moon’s gravitational pull on Earth’s winter is coming
(i) Earth rotates a distance in an hour
____1. Yildiz witnessed a very big shadow cast on the Earth by the moon.
____2. Andrew got a sun tan in December when he took a vacation in Australia.
____3. Jeff could play outside much longer because daylight lasted 12 hours.
____4. Monique helped count Monarch butterflies as they migrated to Mexico.
____5. Ekata loved to study the leaves as they turned color and fell from deciduous trees.
____6. Alfonso said some plants flower only in the summer.
____7. Carolyn lives in Los Angeles so she cannot call her Grandmother at 9 p.m. because it is midnight in Cleveland.
____8. Jerome checked to see if the same side of the moon always faces Earth.
____9. Mary had to hurry to study the tide pool before the water came in again.
____10. Jasmine could not see the moon even though the night sky was clear and starry.
Read each scenario. Describe the motions of Earth, the sun and moon and explain how they cause the related phenomena.
Example: Cameron said the highest of high tides are called spring tides.
Earth revolves around the sun; the moon revolves around the Earth so sometimes all three are lined up The combined gravitational force is a greater pull on Earth’s waters at these times. Therefore, oceans bulge more and the high tides are the highest.
1) Travelers are riding their camels in as easterly direction across the Sahara desert toward Cairo. They left their camp as soon as the sun came into view over the eastern horizon. Near day’s end they were weary of the sun, sand, and heat and rested in an oasis watching the sun disappear.
2) Temperatures are low and food is scarce so chipmunks hibernate while frogs burrow into the mud and remain dormant until warm weather arrives.
3) The astronomer loved to study the moon; he would have gazed at the same craters and marias and rilles every night, but sometimes there was no moon and sometimes only one part of the moon would show. He could only study the full moon about once a month.
4) Fishermen and scientists along the Atlantic shore can read the times of the tides for their port in their daily newspaper.
5) Astrologers from the ancient Mayan civilization thought they were able to predict there would be a solar eclipse about every 18 years. What is a solar eclipse, and what is the difference between a partial and total eclipse?
Live long and prosper!