Learn About The Moon

In this activity, we’re going to be learning about the moon.

 

What do you think of when you hear the word satellite?

 

You might think of a metal spaceship orbiting round the Earth.

 

 

The moon is actually a satellite.

A satellite is anything that orbits around the Earth or another planet.

The moon orbits (goes around) Earth, so it’s a satellite.

 

The moon has an outer layer of hard rock which is covered in moon soil.

 

The Moon's Orbits

It takes the moon 28 days to orbit the Earth. This is a lunar (moon) month.

 

 

The moon doesn’t orbit Earth in a perfect circle. It goes around in an oval shape called an ellipse.

 

Just like the Earth, the moon also rotates on its own axis in an anticlockwise direction. It takes the moon 28 days to do this.

This means that it takes the moon the same amount of time to spin on its own axis as it does to orbit Earth.

 

The moon appears to be a different shape in the sky from one day to the next. These different shapes are called the phases of the moon.

 

 

The moon itself stays the same shape but the Sun lights up different parts of it depending on where it is on its journey around the Earth. We only see the moon because it reflects sunlight.

 

In this activity, you’ll be answering questions about the moon and its orbits. 

 

If you need to look back at this introduction, just click on the red help button on the screen when doing the questions.