Moon Shapes! Why Does the Moon Change Shape?

What Crafty Clover says in this video

Intro

Hi! I'm Crafty Clover! Let's discover something amazing. Why does the Moon change shape?

The Big Idea

Does the Moon really change shape? Nope! The Moon is always a round ball. We see the part that sunlight is lighting up. As the Moon travels around Earth, that lit part looks different to us.

Step 1

Step 1: sunlight hits the Moon. The Sun always lights up half of the Moon, just like a flashlight on a ball. The other half is in shadow.

Step 2

Step 2: the Moon orbits Earth. The Moon takes about 1 month to travel all the way around us. So we look at it from a new angle every night.

Step 3

Step 3: we see a different slice, but the whole ball is still there. Sometimes we see a thin crescent, sometimes a half, and sometimes the whole face. Even a new Moon is still up there, just dark.

A Closer Look

Here's the Moon on its trip around Earth. The Sun is on the left, lighting up half of the Moon. Earth is in the middle. Each little Moon shows what we see from Earth on that part of the trip. New, crescent, half, and full!

Quick Facts

Quick facts! A crescent Moon is still a whole Moon, with most of it in shadow. The Moon takes about 29 and a half days to go through all its phases. Earth's shadow is not what makes the phases. A phone photo of the Moon is fine, but never stare at the Sun.

Think Like a Scientist

Now, think like a scientist! Ask: what is really changing, the Moon or the slice we see? And ask: why is a new Moon still there? Try it at home: look at the Moon each night for a week. Draw its shape in your notebook.

Outro

The Moon is always a whole ball. Only the slice we see changes! Crafty Clover can be found on Amazon Books, Google Bookstore, and Apple Books. Available for purchase or download! Bye for now!