Phases, Eclipses, and

Tides
Chap 15 Sec 3

Essential Questions
Chap15 Sec 3
1.What causes the phases
of the moon?
2.What are solar and lunar
eclipses?
3.What causes the tides?

Motions of the Moon

The moon rotates on its axis
and revolves around Earth.
The changing relative
positions of the Earth, sun,
and moon cause the moon
to appear to change shapes
we see the different
phases of the moon.

 The moon revolves around Earth. It takes

the moon about 27.3 days to revolve
around Earth.
The moon rotates on its axis in about the
same time that it revolves around Earth.
For this reason, we only see one side of
the moon.
A year and a day on the moon would be
the same!!
As the moon and Earth move, their
positions change in relation to each other.
Their positions also change in relation to
the sun.

Full Moon

 The changing relative positions

of the moon, Earth, and sun
cause the phases of the moon,
eclipses, and tides.

Phases of the Moon

The moon does not give off its own light.
The moon reflects light from the sun.
The moon appears to have different
shapes at different times. These different
shapes of the moon that you see are
called phases.
As the moon revolves around Earth, you
see the moon from different angles. You
cannot always see all of the part of the
moon that is lit by the sun.

 The phase of the moon you see

depends on how much of the
sunlit side of the moon faces
Earth.
It takes 29.5 days for the moon
to go through all phases.

The Dark Side of the Moon

We often think of the dark side of
the moon as the side that faces away
from Earth.
This isnt always true only at a certain
phase of the moon!
At some point during 29.5 days, every
part of the moon will be dark.

Full Moon

First Quarter Moon

Waning Crescent Moon

Phases of the Moon

Teacher
explain
this
diagram.

Essential Question
Answered
1.What causes the phases of the
moon?
The changing positions of the
moon, Earth, and sun causes
the phases of the moon.
Stop here & complete foldable & notes.

Eclipses
An eclipse (ih KLIPS) is when an
object in space comes between the
sun and another object. For example,
an eclipse occurs when the moon
comes between the sun and Earth.

 When the moons

shadow hits Earth or
Earths shadow hits the
moon, an eclipse
occurs.
Latin words for sun and
moon are solar and lunar.

Solar Eclipse
Solar eclipses occur when the moon
moves in a line directly between Earth and
the sun, casting a shadow on Earth.
A solar eclipse happens only during a new
moon.

Solar Eclipse

Total Solar Eclipse

The umbra (darkest part of the moons
shadow), falls on a small area of Earth.
The sky will become totally dark you can
even see the stars and the suns corona
(outer atmosphere of the sun).
The area in the umbra sees a total solar
eclipse. It is a very small place on Earth.
The next total solar eclipse is on July 22,
2009 and youll have to travel to India,
China, or parts of Japan to see it!!

Partial Solar Eclipse

People in the penumbra, or lighter
shadow of the moon, see a partial
eclipse.
The sun is partially blocked out.
This shadow covers a larger area of
Earth.

Lunar Eclipse
Lunar eclipses occur when the moon
passes through Earths shadow.
A lunar eclipse occurs when there is
a full moon.
During a lunar eclipse, Earth
blocks sunlight from reaching
the moon.

A Lunar Eclipse

These pictures show the moon passing into Earths shadow, being covered
completely by the shadow, then moving out of the shadow. The red
appearance is because Earths atmosphere bends some sunlight around
Earth onto the moon.

Total Lunar Eclipse

The moon moves through Earths umbra
(darkest part of the Earths shadow).
You can see the edge of Earths shadow on
the moon before and after a total lunar
eclipse.
Lunar eclipses are visible to everyone that
can see the moon right then (the dark side
of Earth).
The next total lunar eclipse will be on Feb.
21, 2010 and we should be able to see it!

Partial Lunar Eclipse

Most lunar eclipses are partial.
They occur when the moon passes
through a part of the Earths umbra.
The next partial lunar eclipse is on
Feb. 9, 2009 but will not be visible to
us. Fly out west or to Asia to see it.
Two other partial lunar eclipse will
occur on July 7 and August 6, 2009
and both should be visible to us.

Lunar Eclipse

Student Photos of the Feb.

20, 2008 Total Lunar Eclipse

Essential Question Answered

2. What are solar and lunar eclipses?
Solar eclipses happen when the
moons shadow falls on Earth and
from our view, the sun is covered by
the moon. Lunar eclipses happen
when the moon moves into the
Earths shadow and the sunlight is
temporarily blocked from the moon.
Stop and complete foldable and notes.

Tides
Tides are the regular rise and fall of
ocean water.
The moons gravity causes tides. The
force of the moons gravity causes
ocean water on Earth to move higher
in some places and lower in other
places.
The suns gravity also pulls on Earths
ocean waters.

Spring & Neap Tides

During a new moon, the sun, moon,
and Earth are lined up in a straight line.
The combined forces of the sun and the
moon cause spring tides. A spring tide
is the highest possible high tide.
Sometimes, the sun, moon, and Earth
form a right angle. This arrangement
produces a neap tide. A neap tide is
the lowest possible high tide.

Essential Question Answered

3. What causes the tides?

Tides are caused by the

moons gravity pulling
Earths water towards it.

Complete remaining notes.