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Moon

The Moon

The Moon is the Earth's satellite. It rotates around the Earth and also on its axis. It takes the Moon 29.5 days to complete an orbit around the Earth.

On average, the distance from Earth to the Moon is about 384,400 km.

The Moon has a diameter of 3,476 kilometers and is about one-quarter the size of Earth. The Moon weighs about 80 times less than Earth.

On the Moon, there's no air to breathe. However, there is a very thin layer of gases on the surface that can almost be called an atmosphere and supposedly it consists of helium, neon, argon, ammonia, methane and carbon dioxide.

Full Moon
Full Moon. Dunc. Pixabay. (Pixabay Licence)

Phases of the Moon: They are the different illuminated stages of the Moon as it moves around the Earth.

Lunar eclipse: It is the total or partial obscurity of the light on the Moon when the Earth is between it and the Sun.
Full Moon: It is the phase of the Moon when it is completely illuminated.



New Moon: It is the phase of the Moon when the Sun's light is not illuminating the side of the Moon facing the Earth so we can't see it at night.

Eclipse
Eclipse. DeMysticWay. Pixabay. (Pixabay Licence)

Moon's GravityIt is the total or partial of the light on the Moon when the Earth is between it and the Sun.

Tide: It is the periodic rise and fall of the sea level produced by the attraction of the Moon.

Low tide: It is the lowest elevation in the sea level.

Low Tide

    Low tide. Yolanda Varela. (CC BY-NC)
High tide: It is the highest elevation in the sea level.
 
High tide
High tide. Yolanda Varela. (CC BY-NC)

Activity 1

1. Listen to the words and write them. Check the spelling.
I want to fly to the Moon 1. 2.
3. 4.
5. 6.
7. 8.

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Activity 2

2. Listen to the definitions and mark with an X the word it corresponds to.
a. Moon's gravity b. Tide c. Lunar eclipse
a. Low tide b. New Moon c. High Tide
a. Lunar eclipse b. High tide c. Tide
a.New Moon b. Full Moon c. Low tide
a. New Moon b. Full Moon c. Low tide
a. Low tide b. High tide c. Lunar eclipse

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Activity 3

3. Listen to the definitions and choose the missing word.
They are the different illuminated of the Moon as it moves around the Earth. It is the total or partial of the light on the Moon when the Earth is between it and the Sun. It is a force that attracts all objects to the of the Moon. the greater the mass of the object, the stronger the force of gravity. It is the periodic rise and fall of the sea level produced by the of the Moon.
It is the elevation in the sea level. It is the elevation in the sea level. It is the phase of the Moon when the Sun's light is not the side of the Moon facing the Earth so we can't see it at night. It is the phase of the Moon when it is illuminated.

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Activity 4

TeamworkFollow this link and find information to know whether the sentences are true (T) or false (F). Write down the information that justifies your answers and explain it to the rest of the students.
1. The Moon in nearer the Earth than Mars.

Moon north Pole

            Moon north pole. NASA. Wikipedia. (Public Domain)

2. The name Luna comes from the Greek.
3. Galileo had realized that the appearance of the Moon changed during the month.
4. Humans have already travelled to the Moon.
5. There are dark and light areas on the Moon's surface.
Moon South Pole
Moon south pole. NASA. Wikipedia. (Public Domain)
6. The craters on the Moon's surface were caused by meteors.
7. Scientists think that the Moon was volcanically active in the past.
8. Gravity on the Moon is the same as on the Earth.

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Extra activities

A. Watch this video to see an easy way to imitate craters on the Moon. Can you do it at home or at school and record it? Remember to keep a diary of all steps you follow during your experiment.

How to make a crater. Eye in the sky. YouTube. (YouTube Standard Licecnse)

B. Let's learn something about gravity and weigh. Have a look at this web and check how much you would weigh on the Moon.
C. Do you know there is an observatory in our community and a planetarium? Could you organize a trip to see one of them?

Valentina Tereshkova

Read this text about Valentina Tereshkova.

Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to travel into space. 

She was born in 1937 in Bolshoye Maslennikovo, a small village in western Russia. She could only start school when she was ten but had to leave in 1954 to work in a mill. However, she continued studying through correspondence courses and graduated from the Light Industry Technical School.

In her free time Valentina practiced parachuting which helped her to become a cosmonaut in 1961. Two years later she piloted the spacecraft Vostok 6, which completed 48 orbits around the Earth in a three day mission.

After her space experience, she graduated from the Military Air Academy and represented the USSR in a lot of international events, for example, the United Nations Conference for the International Women's Year in 1975. She was also in charge of the Soviet Committee for women from 1968 to 1987.

Valentina Tereshkova
Selo con Valentina Tereshkova, 1963, URSS. ArtMechanic.  Wikipedia  (CC0)
TeamworkAccording to the text, are the sentences true (T) or false (F)? In pairs find the information that support your choice and prepare to explain it to the rest of students.
1. Valentina Tereshkova was born in the 20th century.
Vostk 6
Vostok 6.John Keogh. Flickr (CC BY-NC)
2. She was born in Poland.
3. When she was 20, she was at University.
4. In 1963 she piloted a spacecraft.
5. Vostok 6 was a Military Academy.
6. Valentina orbited the Moon.
7. Valentina retired after her space adventure.
8. She worked for the Soviet Committee for more than six years.

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Projects

PROJECT 1 PROJECT 2 PROJECT 3
Build a SUN-EARTH-MOON mobile to show the rest of students the movement of the three objects. Use materials you can think of: cardboard, paper, different size balls, etc.

a. Create a poster showing the different phases of the Moon: First Quarter, Waxing Crescent, New Moon, Waning Crescent, Waning Gibbous, Last Quarter, Full Moon, Waxing Gibbons.

b. Create an infographic giving information about the following questions: What is a blue Moon? Why do we always see the same side of the Moon? What is the influence of the Moon on the tides? Use canva, infogram or any free program.

Do some research work about the first trip to the moon and narrate it as if you were the astronauts that landed on the Moon.