1

Unit Plan: Earth & Space Science Unit

Earth’s & Moon’s Atmosphere
Standard 2:
- Earth and Space Science. Students will gain an understanding of Earth and Space Science
through the study of Earth materials, celestial movement, and weather.
Objective 2:
- Observe and record recognizable objects and patterns in the night sky.
Strand b:
- Observe, describe, and record patterns in the appearance and apparent motion of the
moon in the night sky.
Objective:
- Students can use scientific terminology to describe the difference between the Earth’s
atmosphere and the Moon’s atmosphere.
Student Friendly Objective:
- I can describe the difference between the Earth’s and the Moon’s atmosphere using
scientific words.
Materials:
- Pretest on knowledge, Armstrong’s footprint Question sheet, access to the power point,
computer with access to the internet, paper, pencil
Vocabulary:
- Sphere, earth, moon, atmosphere, weather, space
Essential Question:
- What is the difference between the Earth’s and the Moon’s atmosphere?
Engage: 10 minutes
- Introduce to the students that we will be exploring Earth and Space for the next few days
during our new Science Unit.
- Inform students that they will be completing a pretest as a way for me and them to see
their growth and what they learn over the next few days. Also share that these tests will
not be graded.
- Pass out the pretest and go over the instructions for the test with the students. Read
through each question. Then ask students if they have any questions. Ask students to
bring their test to the front of the room when they are finished and then find a seat on the
carpet in front of the smartboard.
- Allow the student about 5 minutes to complete the pretest.
Explore:
- Present this question to the students:
- Neil Armstrong’s footprint is preserved on the moon’s surface from when he first
set foot on the moon over 50 years ago. We walk and run on the playground
everyday, just like other students and teachers have done for many years before,
yet our footprints always disappear. Why do our footprints disappear on the Earth
and Armstrong’s footprint remains on the moon?
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- Ask students to think about the question for a minute. Then pass out the worksheet that
has the question on it and invite students to write down their guess as to why the foot
print remains on the moon but would not remain on the Earth (on the side with a picture
of a footprint). Give students about 5 minutes to write down their thoughts. Early
finishers can draw a picture/diagram to go along with their writing. This will be used as
another data point for me to see what students know before the lesson.
- After all the students have turned in their work, begin the powerpoint. Tell students that
there are 5 layers in the Earth’s atmosphere, and ask students if they know any of the
layers. Call on a few students to share some of their answers. Then reveal the answers on
the smartboard.
- Show the diagram on the board of the Earth’s atmospheric layers.
- Inform students that they will be watching a short clip about the Earth’s atmosphere and
they should be listening for a fact they can share with the class after the video stops. Play
the video. Then ask students to share with a partner one fact they learned from the video.
Also ask:
- What does the word “Altitude” mean?
- Did anyone see/hear which layer Earth’s weather comes from?
- Ask students to share where the Earth gets its source of heat from.
- Share this question about the Sun and Earth’s heat:
- There is snow up in the mountains that surround Salt Lake City right now. Why is
there snow in the mountains and little to no snow in Salt Lake City? Why does it
snow more up in the mountains than it does in the valley? Why is it colder in the
mountains than it is in the valley?
- Inform students that we will be watching a Bill Nye video about weather. After
we watch the video we will discuss why the weather is different in the mountains
versus the city (which is located in the valley).
- Discuss why there is a difference in temperature in the mountains versus in the city. Ask
students to explain Bill Nye’s comparison of earth’s atmosphere to many layers of coats.
- Now we know that Earth experiences weather due to its different layers of atmosphere
and that weather is different depending on where you are in the world (high elevation
versus low elevation). Ask students to discuss with a partner some of the ways that the
weather may change the earth’s surface.
- What are some ways that weather affects the land?
- What does the ground look like or feel like after it rains or snows?
- Does wind affect the land as well? How?
- Give students 1 minute to think of their response and then 2 minutes for them to
discuss with their partner.
- Inform students that they will be watching another video. This video is about the moon’s
surface. Share with students that water boils at 100 degrees Celsius and freezes at 0
degrees Celsius and write these facts on the board.
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- After watching the video, invite students to share what the temperature is on the light side
and dark side of the moon.
- Is the moon’s temperature the same or similar to the Earth’s temperature? Why or
why not?
- Ask students to do a think-pair-share about the similarities and differences between the
Earth’s and the moon’s surface. Think about the differences in atmospheres on the Earth
and the Moon.
- Is the weather we experience here on Earth the same as the weather that occurs on
the moon? Why is the weather different?
- Give students about 2-3 minutes to think and share their ideas with their partner,
then bring them back to the class discussion to share their thoughts.
Extend:
- Invite students to think about why the temperature on the moon’s surface varies so much
on the different sides of the moon. Ask students to think about where the Moon gets its
heat from.
Evaluate:
- Students will then answer the same question they did in the beginning of the lesson but
on the other side of the paper (the side with an Earth on it). This time they are challenged
to use some of the scientific terms we learned today in their responses.
Early Finishers:
- Students who finish early will be invited to think about how long a footprint typically
stays on the surface of the Earth. Does the length of time the footprint remains depend on
any factors (i.e. if the footprint was made in summer versus winter, mud versus dirt).
4

Moon’s Rotational Pattern

Standard 2:
- Earth and Space Science. Students will gain an understanding of Earth and Space Science
through the study of earth materials, celestial movement, and weather.
Objective 2:
- Observe and record recognizable objects and patterns in the night sky.
Strand a:
- Observe, describe, and record patterns in the appearance and apparent motion of the
moon in the night sky.
Objective:
- Students understand the axis that the moon rotates on in comparison to the axis the Earth
rotates on as well as why the dark side of the moon is never visible from the perspective
of Earth.
Student Friendly Objective:
- I can explain why the moon’s dark side is never visible to us on Earth.
Materials:
- Moon's rotation video, computer, projector
Vocabulary:
- Darkside of the moon, perspective, rotate, axis, near side of the moon, far side of the
moon, revolution
Essential Question:
- Why is the dark side of the moon never visible to us on Earth?
Engage:
- Yesterday we watched a video about the moon’s surface. In the video, the woman
mentioned that the moon was very hot on one side, and very cold on the other. Why does
this happen? How is it possible that one side of the moon is a completely different
temperature than the other? Remember, the moon gets its heat from the sun.
Explore:
- “We are going to watch a video that will explain how the moon rotates on its axis. The
man speaking in the video is going to put a yellow line through the center of the Moon to
help us see which direction and how fast the moon is rotating. Try to focus on how the
yellow line is moving during the video, as well as his explanation of how the moon is
rotating.”
- Play the Moon's rotation video (start the video at the beginning and stop the video at
2:00).
- “That video had some good information about the moon. What did he call the side of the
moon that we see from Earth? What did he call the side of the moon we can’t see from
Earth?”
- Put a desk in the front of the classroom where everyone can see it. “Now let’s talk about
the Moon’s rotation. In the video, the man drew a yellow line through the Moon’s center
to show us that the moon was rotating as it revolves around the Earth. If I am pretending I
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am the Moon, and I stand with my arms straight out, it looks like there is a line going
through me as well. As I rotate standing in place, you can see that as I turn, my fingers
point in different directions as I turn, and the front of my body faces different places in
the room as I turn too. I am staying in place as I rotate on my axis. Now, the moon spins
on an axis just like I was spinning, but while it spins on its axis it revolves around the
Earth. Now I am going to show you how the Moon rotates as it orbits around the Earth.”
- Begin walking around the desk with arms spread out wide and face facing the desk the
entire time. After one full revolution, ask students to compare my body to the first time I
was rotating.
- “As I revolved around the desk I was also rotating. How do we know that I was
rotating?”
- Show students an example of what the moon would look revolving around Earth without
rotating. Walk around the desk with your arms spread wide but facing the white board the
entire time. Ask students:
- “What is the difference between when I walked around this desk the first time and
the second time?”
- “Which time was I rotating and how did you know?”
Explain:
- Questions to ask the students about the moon:
- Which direction does the Moon rotate?
- Which direction does the Earth rotate?
- From Earth, do we always see the same side of the moon?
- Is it more accurate to call the side of the moon we never see from Earth the “dark
side” or the “far side”? Why?
- How long does it take for the moon to complete one full rotation?
Extend:
- Is the dark side of the moon ever exposed to sunlight?
- Why is it that the phases of the moon always appear in the same order (waxing to
waning)?
Evaluate:
- I will be assessing my students’ understanding of the moon’s rotation based on their
ability to answer my questions about the moon’s rotation.
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Moon’s Orbital Pattern

Standard 2:
- Earth and Space Science. Students will gain an understanding of Earth and Space Science
through the study of earth materials, celestial movement, and weather.
Objective 2:
- Observe and record recognizable objects and patterns in the night sky.
Strand a:
- Observe, describe, and record patterns in the appearance and apparent motion of the
moon in the night sky.
Objective:
- Students will understand how the moon’s orbital pattern tract and how this orbital pattern
affects the oceans.
Student Friendly Objective:
- I can explain how the moon’s orbital pattern affects Earth’s oceans.
Vocabulary:
- orbit, orbital pattern, ocean, tides, tidal wave, hill-sphere, eclipse
Materials:
- Story, Bill Nye Moon's orbital pattern (9:25- 13:02), Moon’s orbit worksheet, head
fasteners (2 per student), colored pencils/crayons, glue stick
Essential Question:
- How does the Moon’s orbital pattern affect our ocean’s tides?
Engage:
- “I’m going to read to you all a story called “The Story of Wolf and Moon”. This is a story
about a wolf who falls in love with the Moon. While we read, I’m going to ask you some
questions about the Moon and Sun’s effect on Earth.”
- Begin reading the story. Stop reading at the part where Sun talks about the last time that
Moon tried to leave his orbital pattern to join Wolf on Earth. Ask students why Moon
coming closer to Earth might cause a tidal wave. Allow a few students to share their
guesses, then continue reading.
- Stop reading again right after Sun refers to the time it sent a kiss to Earth. Ask students
what event Sun might be referring to.
- Finish reading the story.
- Share the essential question for today’s lesson with students:
- How does the Moon’s orbital pattern affect our ocean’s tides?
Explore:
- “Moon’s gravity and the ocean: the moon is a large mass of rock, and while there is less
gravity on the moon than on Earth, the moon does have some gravity. We know the moon
has gravity because spaceships were able to land on the moon’s surface and astronauts
were able to walk on the moon’s surface. Do you think this gravity is strong enough to
have an effect on the Earth and if so, what do you think the gravity affects?”
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- “Bill Nye is now going to explain to us how the moon affects our oceans. While we
watch this short clip, listen for:
- 1) How is the moon able to affect our oceans?
- 2) What exactly the moon’s effect on the ocean is?”
- Play Bill Nye Moon's orbital pattern video (start video at 9:25 and stop video at
13:02).
- After stopping the video, ask students:
- 1) “How is the moon able to affect our oceans?”
- (Moon’s gravity affects things on Earth)
- 2) “What is the moon’s effect on our oceans?”
- High and low tides
- Draw a picture of the moon’s orbital pattern on the white board where the Sun is on the
left, the Moon is in the middle and the Earth is on the right. Ask students to identify
whether this is a solar eclipse or a lunar eclipse.
- “Now we are going to create a diagram to help up remember how the Moon orbits the
Earth. I am going to pass out a piece of paper that has 3 circles on it and 2 rectangles on
it. The biggest circle is going to represent our sun so you will color in that circle using a
yellow and/or orange crayon/colored pencil. The medium sized circle is going to
represent our Earth, so you are going to use blue and green crayons/markers to draw our
Earth. Try to make your drawing of the Earth look realistic by using the green
crayon/colored pencil to draw the continents and the blue crayon/colored pencil to draw
in the oceans around the land. The smallest circle is going to represent our Moon so you
will use a grey crayon/colored pencil to color in the moon. Our Moon has craters and
bumps on it so you will need to draw those on the small circle. We will be leaving the
two rectangles white.”
- “After you have drawn your Sun, Earth, and Moon, you will be cutting out the 3 circles
and 2 rectangles. Once these pieces are cut out, you will come grab 2 head fasteners from
the front table and bring them back to your desk. You will notice that there are little dots
in the middle of all your big circles, as well as on the ends of the rectangle. This is where
you poke a hole through the paper using your head fastener. Once each paper has a hole
in it, you will put the sun on one end of the long rectangle, and Earth on the other end of
the long rectangle. Then, you will glue the moon on the end of the small rectangle so it is
covering the half circle. Now attach the small rectangle to the Earth by pushing the head
fastener that is already attached to the Earth through the dot on the small rectangle.”
Explain:
- What on Earth is affected by the moon’s orbital pattern?
- How does the Moon’s orbital pattern affect our ocean’s tides?
- Why is it important that the moon continue in its normal orbital pattern?
- What is a lunar eclipse?
- What is a solar eclipse?
Extend:
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- Is there ever a time where the Sun is between the Moon and Earth?
- Why do the sun and the moon appear to be the same size in the sky?
Evaluate:
- I am evaluating my students throughout the entire lesson by asking them questions and
assessing their knowledge by asking questions throughout the lesson. I will also be
collecting their Moon’s Orbital Diagrams to assess their understanding of the Moon’s
orbit around Earth.
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Phases of the Moon

Standard 2:
- Earth and Space Science. Students will gain an understanding of Earth and Space Science
through the study of earth materials, celestial movement, and weather.
Objective 2:
- Observe and record recognizable objects and patterns in the night sky.
Strand a:
- Observe, describe, and record patterns in the appearance and apparent motion of the
moon in the night sky.
Objective:
- Students can identify the 8 phases of the moon.
Student Friendly Objective:
- I can explain why the moon’s appearance changes over the course of 27 days.
Vocabulary:
- sphere, phase, orbit, rotate, reflect, axis
Materials:
- 8 spheres with half the sphere painted black, a stand for each sphere to sit on, a diagram
of how the moon appears from earth during each of the 8 phases of the moon, 8 index
cards with the phases of the moon drawing & phase name (one card to represent each of
the 8 phases), a drawing of the sun, Moon Diagram sheets
Essential Question:
- Why does the moon move through 8 different phases?
Engage:
- Yesterday, we learned about the moon’s orbital pattern. Today, we are going to explore
how the moon’s orbital pattern around the Earth affects how the moon appears to us from
Earth. Today, I have set up a diagram for us to explore that will help us explain why the
moon’s appearance changes.
Explore:
- I will have moons set up at 8 different points in the room (in a circle). The class will be
split into 2 groups. The first group will be in the front of the classroom with me exploring
the phases of the moon diagram I have set up. The other group will be working
independently on a packet (this week is read-a-thon week so the students will be working
on a Dr. Sues packet in honor of his birthday).
- One half of the class will be invited to join me at the front of the room near the phases of
the Moon diagram. First, we will start by discussing some information about the moon
and the sun to help make the diagram make more sense.
- The Moon orbits the earth counterclockwise. Stand up and rotate your body
counterclockwise (help students spin in the correct direction if they are
struggling).
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- We use two specific words to describe the moon’s growing and shrinking. Can
anyone tell me what words we use, and which word describes the shrinking and
which word describes the growing?
- Waxing is growing (like maxing something out or adding wax to
something makes it grow).
- Waning is shrinking.
- Does the moon really grow and shrink every 27.3 days?
- No, but its appearance or what we see from Earth, grows and shrinks.
- Does the moon make its own light?
- No, the moon reflects the light from the sun. That light is reflecting back
down onto earth and that is why the moon appears to be glowing at night.
- “The diagram I have created will show us how the appearance of the moon changes while
the moon orbits the Earth. When I tell you to, you will each line up at the diagram one by
one, and I will let each of you have a turn to spin in the middle of the diagram, pretending
you are the Earth looking at the moon orbiting you. You will stand in the center facing
the white board that has a picture of the sun on it. Then you will spin counterclockwise
and look at how the moon’s shape changes. Try to focus on looking at the white part of
the moon, as that is representing the side of the moon that is lit up by the sun and the
black part of the moon is representing the dark side of the moon.”
- Students will line up and one by one get a chance to turn in the diagram. Once
they have exited the diagram their next instruction is to sit on the carpet and wait
for everyone to have a turn in the diagram. After everyone has had their turn and
is sitting, pass out one index card to each student and ask them to go inside the
moon diagram and find the moon that looks like the moon drawn on their card.
Remind students that they are looking at the white part of the moon as this is the
part of the moon that reflects the light and is seen from Earth. Once each student
has found their moon, we will check to make sure our phases of the moon starts
with a new moon, and correctly identifies each phase of the moon in order by
spinning counterclockwise.
- Now students will fill out the Moon Phases Diagram Sheet. When passing out the
diagram sheet, remind each student that white represents the part of the moon that
is reflecting light, and black (or in this case their pencils) represent the part of the
moon that is not reflecting light. If they get stuck and need help remembering how
the moon looks at each phase, they may go back into the diagram after everyone
has had one turn spinning in the center.
Explain:
- Why do I keep asking you to focus on the white part of the moon in our diagram and in
our drawings?
- The white part of the moon represents the part of the moon that is reflecting the
sun’s light.
- Why does a New Moon appear all black and a Full Moon appear all white?
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- During a New Moon, the part of the moon that is reflecting the sun is not facing
earth so the face of the moon that is facing Earth is not lit up.
- During a Full Moon, the sun is hitting the entire face of the moon that is facing
earth, so the entire face is reflecting light down on to us.
Extend:
- The sun produces heat and light. Does the Moon reflect heat and light from the sun?
Evaluate:
- Collect the Moon Phases diagram sheets that students made during this period to assess
their understanding of how the moon looks during each phase. This sheet will be used in
the next lesson to help guide students during the book making process.
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Moon Phases Book Making Day

Standard 2:
- Earth and Space Science. Students will gain an understanding of Earth and Space Science
through the study of earth materials, celestial movement, and weather.
Objective 2:
- Observe and record recognizable objects and patterns in the night sky.
Strand a:
- Observe, describe, and record patterns in the appearance and apparent motion of the
moon in the night sky.
Objective:
- Students can recognize there are 8 different phases of the moon as well as name and
describe each of them.
Student Friendly Objective:
- I can name and describe the 8 different phases of the moon.
Materials:
- pre-made paper books, construction paper, glue, phases of the moon worksheet, pencil,
Moon Phases Diagram Sheet
Vocabulary:
- new moon, waxing gibbous, first quarter, waxing crescent, waning gibbous, waning
crescent, third quarter, sphere, phase, orbit, rotate, reflect, axis
Essential Question:
- What are the 8 phases of the moon?
Engage:
- Previously we looked at a model of how the moon appears in its 8 phases. We stood in
the middle of the diagram, pretending to be the earth, and turned on our axis to see how
the moon’s appearance changed as our perspective of it changed. Today, we are going to
make our own individual books about the 8 phases of the moon. But first, let’s review
some of the facts we know about the moon and its orbital pattern.
Explore:
- Why is the moon referred to as a natural satellite?
- Because it orbits the Earth and it is not man-made.
- How many days does it take for the moon to complete one full cycle of its 8 phases?
- 27.3 days
- That’s right, 27.3 days for the moon to orbit the Earth.
- Does the moon make its own light?
- No, the moon reflects the light from the sun. That light reflects back down onto
earth and that is why the moon appears to be glowing at night.
- The moon constantly seems to be changing in appearance. In the beginning of its cycle,
the moon appears to be growing until it reaches a full moon. Then the moon appears to be
shrinking. Why does the moon’s appearance seem to grow and shrink throughout its
cycle?
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- Depending on the position of the sun, the moon is reflecting different amounts of
light down on to Earth.
- There are two specific terms we use to describe the growing and shrinking of the moon’s
appearance. Can anyone tell me what those are?
- Waxing and Waning
- Which word describes the shrinking appearance and which word describes the growing
appearance?
- Waxing is growing (like maxing out or adding wax to something to make the
object larger)
- Waning is shrinking
- Ok great job on that review. Now I need you all to take out your moon worksheets from
the previous lesson. We are going to use those books to help guide us while creating our
phases of the moon books.
- I made an example book for you all. It looks like this. I put the title of my book on the
front of the book, as well as my name. The book opens up like an accordion, and each
page has a pocket with a white card in it. On the white card where the black square is,
that’s where we are going to put the images of the moon.
- Your first set of directions are this:
1. Wait at your desk until I call your row up to grab materials. The first set of
materials you will need are 8 strips of the white paper (the black square is already
glued on), the pre-made model of the 8 phases of the moon, and 1 glue stick.
Once you have these materials return to your seat.
2. Your next step is to use your moon diagram sheets you created previously to
create the 8 different phases of the moon on your 8 sheets of paper.
3. Once you have glued on every moon piece to your strips of paper, try to place
each sheet in the correct order of the moon’s cycle, starting with the new moon.
Raise your hand when you think you have the sheets in the right order.
- (I will be circulating the room at this time to answer any questions and to check that each
student is working and completing this first task. I anticipate that the students will work
at different paces so I will provide the next set of instructions to students as they finish).
- The next set of instructions are:
- Get a blue book from me and write the phases of the moon in order from left to
right starting with the new moon phase. If you need a reminder of what this will
look like, I will leave my example on the white board.
- Early finishers may write down some facts about the moon on the back side of their book.
Explain:
- Why do we call one of the phases the first quarter and another phase the third quarter?
- Does the side of the moon that is facing away from the sun ever face the sun?
Extend:
- If the moon’s orbital path grew bigger, would the amount of time it takes for the moon to
orbit the Earth change? Why or why not?
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Evaluate:
- I will collect the books that the students made and evaluate their understanding of the
moon’s different phases by the books they wrote. I will give the students their books back
as soon as I have had the chance to observe their work.
- If there is enough time at the end of this lesson, I will administer the Post-Test to students
to show their growth. If there is not enough time, this test will be administered the next
day at the beginning of the science period.
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Worksheets for the Unit Plan

Pretest:
Name: _______________________________________ Date:_________________

Fill in the Blank: Read the statement. Then choose the word that best fits the sentence.

Word Bank:

troposphere eight moon five darkside

1. There are _____________________ layers in the Earth’s atmosphere.

2. There are _____________________ phases of the moon.

3. The _____________________ is the side of the moon that is never seen from Earth.

4. The _____________________ is the layer of the Earth’s atmosphere that we live in.

5. When talking about the phases of the _____________________, waxing is when the

shape of the moon is growing and waning is when the shape of the moon is shrinking.
16

True or False: Read the statement. Then circle True or False in the space below the
question.

1. The troposphere is the closer layer of the atmosphere to the Earth and is the part of the
atmosphere that we live in.

True False

2. The moon’s atmosphere protects it from floating space debris.

True False

3. It takes the same amount of time for the moon to orbit the Earth as it does for the Earth
to orbit the sun.

True False

4. The moon is a type of satellite because it orbits a planet.

True False

5. The moon’s surface is covered with craters due to billions of years of rocks slamming
into the moon’s surface.

True False
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Neil Armstrong Question:

Name: ________________________________________ Date: ______________

Neil Armstrong’s footprint is preserved
on the moon’s surface from when he
first set foot on the moon over 50 years
ago. We walk and run on the playground
everyday, just like other students and
teachers have done for many years
before, yet our footprints always
disappear. Why do our footprints
disappear on the earth and Armstrong’s
footprint remains on the moon?

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Neil Armstrong’s footprint is preserved

on the moon’s surface from when he
first set foot on the moon over 50 years
ago. We walk and run on the playground
everyday, just like other students and
teachers have done for many years
before, yet our footprints always
disappear. Why do our footprints
disappear on the earth and Armstrong’s
footprint remains on the moon?
19

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
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Moon’s orbit worksheet:

Name:_______________________________ Date:___________________
21

Moon Phases Template:

Full Moon Waning Gibbous Last Quarter Waning Crescent

New Moon Waxing Crescent First Quarter Waxing Gibbous

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Post-Test
Name: _______________________________________ Date:_________________

Fill in the Blank: Read the statement. Then choose the word that best fits the sentence.

Word Bank:

troposphere               eight moon                five darkside

1. There are _____________________ layers in the Earth’s atmosphere.

2. There are _____________________ phases of the moon. 

3. The _____________________ is the side of the moon that is never seen from Earth.

4. The _____________________ is the layer of the Earth’s atmosphere that we live in.

5. When talking about the phases of the _____________________, waxing is when the

shape of the moon is growing and waning is when the shape of the moon is shrinking. 
23

True or False: Read the statement. Then circle True or False in the space below the
question.

1. The troposphere is the closer layer of the atmosphere to the Earth and is the part of the
atmosphere that we live in.

True False

2. The moon’s atmosphere protects it from floating space debris. 

True False

3. It takes the same amount of time for the moon to orbit the Earth as it does for the Earth
to orbit the sun.

True False

4. The moon is a type of satellite because it orbits a planet. 

True False

5. The moon’s surface is covered with craters due to billions of years of rocks slamming
into the moon’s surface. 

True False
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Short Answer: Read the Question. Then answer the question using complete sentences. 

1. Describe one difference between the Earth’s Atmosphere and the Moon’s Atmosphere.

2. Describe why only one side of the Moon always faces the Earth.

3. List the 8 phases of the Moon in order starting with New Moon. I have provided all the
names of the 8 phases for you, but they are not in order. (New Moon, Waxing Crescent,
Waning Gibbous, Full Moon, Waning Crescent, First Quarter, Third Quarter, Waxing
Gibbous).

4. What is one way that the Moon’s gravitational pull affects the Earth?