The MOON

We did a couple of fun activities while we were learning about the moon - Moon pictures and Moon mobiles. We spent 2 days really learning about the moon (1 day on what the moon looks like and what its surface is like and 1 day on how the moon moves). We learned some very interesting facts on both days. Here are some of them:

* There is no water on the Moon (but scientists have found ICE in some craters!)
* There are about 500,000 craters on the Moon (one as big as half of the USA!)
* The moon is a rocky ball that looks gray w/ lighter patches (because there are plains, mountains and valleys on the moon).
* The moon may have originally come from the Earth (a piece that broke off when a meteor hit it).
* The moon is the brightest object in our night sky (but it doesn't make its own light - we see it because of the Sun's rays reflecting off of it).
* Four moons could fit across Earth.
* We only ever see one side of the moon (because of the way it revolves around the Earth).
* It takes about 1 month for the moon to revolve around the Earth (in fact, the word "month" came from moon).
* While the moon is revolving around Earth, we see different shapes (phases) - New moon, Crescent moon, Half moon, Full moon.
* The moon rotates on an axis.
* The moon is a satellite of Earth.
* If we wanted to drive to the moon, it would take 4 months (about 240,000 miles away) - but astronauts got there in 3 days!
* The first 2 people to walk on the moon were Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin in 1969.