UNIT 1

SUN, EARTH AND MOON

Statement of Inquiry: Knowing the characteristics of the moon in all
systems with the orientation in space and time and modeling it by
explaining its relationship with other celestial bodies can help us to know
the universe better.
COMMAND TERMS & VOCABULARY OF THE UNIT
• Heat
• Light
• Sphere
• Layer
• Rotation
• Revolution
• Diameter
• Radius
• Crater
• Satellite
• Orbit
• Clockwise
Heat: The temperature of something /the quality of being hot or warm

Light: The brightness that shines from the sun, from fire, or from electrical equipment, allowing

you to see things

Sphere: A round object shaped like a ball

Layer: An amount of a substance covering a surface, or one of several amounts of substance,

each on top of the other

Rotation: To turn in a circular direction, or to make something turn in a circular direction

Revolution: One whole circular movement around a central point, for example one whole

movement of a wheel
Diameter: A straight line that goes from one side of a circle to the other side and through

the centre, or the length of this line

Radius:The distance from the centre of a circle to its edge

Crater: The round, open part at the top of a volcano

Satellite: A natural object that moves around a planet in space

Orbit: The circular journey that a spacecraft or planet makes around the sun, the moon, or

another planet

Clockwise: In the same direction as the hands (= parts that point to the numbers) on a clock

move
 THE SUN
heat and light
• The Sun is the main source of …………………….for Earth.
medium sized
• The Sun is a ………………..….star.

 A star produces its own light!

closest
• The Sun is the ………………star to Earth.

That’s why it seems brighter and larger than other stars.

hot gases hydrogen and helium.
• It is made of ………………………like…………………………
spherical
• The Sun is ………………………...and it has layers like Earth.
THE SUN
• The Sun rotates around its ………………and
axis
…………around
revolves
the center
of the Milky Way galaxy.

109 times
• The Sun’s ………………is
diameter
……………….the diameter of Earth.

• It has layers like the Earth.

 Looking directly at the sun's rays is very harmful for our eyes. Therefore, the sun

should not be looked at with the naked eye or using any tools (telescopes, lenses,

cameras, etc.).
 
THE MOON
• The Moon is a satellite of the Earth.

A satellite is an object that orbits around another object.

• The Moon is much smaller than the Sun and the Earth.
We could fit almost four Moons into the Earth.

• The Moon is not a light source. It reflects sunlight.

• The shape of the Moon is similar to the sphere and the surface of this sphere is not
smooth.

• The Moon's surface is covered with thousands of craters.

 (Meteorite that crashed onto the moon’s surface created crater
https://youtu.be/nX0sg1Gp-1w
THE MOON
• There are rocks, valleys and high mountains on the
Moon surface.

• The Moon has a very thin layer of atmosphere.

Therefore, weather such as wind and rain are
not seen on the Moon.

• The dust layer on the surface remains unchanged

because there is no wind and rain on the Moon.

• The temperature difference between day and

night is also very high.
 FROM LARGEST TO SMALLEST:
SUN, EARTH, MOON

Earth's diameter is 4 times the diameter of the Moon. The Sun's diameter is 109 times the diameter
of Earth.
NOTE: When the Earth, Sun and Moon model is formed by taking the radius of the Moon as 1 cm, the
Earth’s radius should be 4 cm and the Sun’s radius should be 436 cm.
Although the Sun is so much bigger than
the Earth, when we look at the sky we see
it so small.
Why do we see the sun smaller than it is?
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
…………………………………………………………………………
 THE MOVEMENTS OF THE MOON AND LUNAR PHASES

• The Moon has three different movements.

1. The moon rotates around its axis
• The Moon spins in space in a movement called rotation.
• Rotation of the Moon on its axis takes approximately 27 days.
2. The Moon revolves around the Earth
• The Moon revolves around the Earth. The Moon completes a full cycle around the Earth in about
27 days.
3. The Moon revolves around the Sun with the Earth
• It is completed in 365 days and 6 hours.
All three movements of the Moon take place in certain orbits. Orbit means the path a
celestial body follows during its movement.

NOTE: We can see only one side of the Moon because the time of rotation
of the Moon around its axis is equal to the time of revolution around the Earth.
PHASES OF THE MOON

• As the Moon revolves around the Earth, the position of the Moon
relative to the Earth and the Sun changes.
• As the position of the Moon changes, the part of the Moon is lit up
by the sun also changes. Therefore, a person who looks at the Moon
from the Earth sees the Moon in different ways.
• These different appearances of the moon are called phases of the
Moon. The phases of the Moon are completed in approximately 29
days. The 29-day period for completing the phases of the moon
forms the month.
• The Moon has four primary phases and four intermediate phases.
• The period between the two primary phases is one week.
Primary Phases Intermediate Phases

New moon Waxing Crescent 

First quarter Waxing Gibbous 
Full moon Waning Gibbous 
Third quarter Waning Crescent 
(last quarter)
Here are the eight Moon Phases in order:
1. New – the new moon is not visible
2. Waxing Crescent – the Moon starts growing
3. First Quarter – the moon looks like half a circle
4. Waxing Gibbous – still growing
5. Full – we see the entire circle of the Moon lit up
6. Waning Gibbous – the Moon starts shrinking
7. Third Quarter – again only half a circle is visible
8. Waning Crescent – the Moon is about to disappear
29 DAYS OF THE LUNAR PHASE
 MOVEMENTS OF THE SUN, THE EARTH AND THE MOON

Movements of the Sun

• The Sun rotates around its axis. (It turns from west to east
around its axis)
• The Sun revolves around the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

Movements of the Earth

• The Earth rotates around its axis. (Earth rotates on its axis
from west to east)
It takes 24 hours for the Earth to make one
complete rotation on its axis. So we experience each day on
Earth as 24 hours.
• The Earth revolves around the Sun.
One complete revolution takes 365 days and 6 hours, or one
year. 
NOTE: The Earth's orbital path is not a perfect circle. It is an
ellipse.
Movements of the Moon
• The Moon rotates around its axis.
• The Moon revolves around the Earth.
• The Moon revolves around the Sun with the Earth.

The Moon revolves around Earth counter clockwise. The Earth revolves

around the Sun counter clockwise, and the Moon and Earth rotate on their
own axis counter clockwise. It means that they move from west to east.
Activity 5: Name the “Phases of the Moon
satellite
 
Activity 7: Puzzle Time