Earth's Moon

If you watch the moon every night, you see its shape appear to change. Does the moon really change shape? Of course not, but its appearance from Earth certainly changes. How does this work? The answer lies within the part of the moon that receives sunlight, and the part of the moon that does not receive sunlight.

How far is the moon from the Earth? Why does the moon change its shape (as in full, half, and quarter moon)? Astronomer Cathy Imhoff answers students' questions about the moon.

Animated lunar cycle lesson

The current moon phase, set against a stunning backdrop of stars!

Earth and Moon Viewer

This animation allows students to see how the position of the earth, sun, and moon change with each moon phase.

The sun always lights one half of the moon. The moon�s appearance changes through the month because different portions of its sunlit half are visible from Earth. For each phase, examine how the view from Earth is related to the view from space.

Learn the effects of gravity on our solar system including doing sports on the moon and what life would be like on other planets. From grade 3 to grade 6.

This site allows the students to navigate through an entire lunar cycle in order to see how the moon phase can be viewed from earth, as well as the sun, moon, and earth alignment of the moon phase in space.

This site allows students to play a game in which they must match the correct moon phase picture with the correct moon phase name.