Have you noticed that the moon isn’t always the same shape in the sky?
The moon itself stays the same shape but the Sun reflects on different parts of it depending on where it is on its journey around Earth.
It takes the moon around 28 days, which is called a lunar month, to orbit (travel around) Earth.
Look at the diagram showing the phases of the moon. This is what the moon looks like to us on Earth when the moon is in different positions along its orbit around us.
When the moon is between the Sun and the Earth, the Sun can’t shine on the section of moon facing the Earth, so we can’t see the moon.
We call this a new moon. Can you see this on the diagram?
The moon orbits the Earth in an anticlockwise direction and we start to see more of the moon as it moves around. The Sun can reach parts of the side of the moon that faces the Earth.
We then see a crescent shape, called a waxing crescent.
When the Sun reaches the half of the side of the moon that we can see from the Earth, we call it a waxing half moon. Sometimes this is called the first quarter.
A waxing half moon then turns into a waxing gibbous as the moon orbits around.
The word waxing tells us that we are gradually seeing more of the moon each day until it becomes a full moon.
A full moon is where the Sun can reach all of the side of the moon that we can see from the Earth. This can be a confusing name as when we are looking at a full moon, we are actually only seeing half of the moon!
After a full moon, the moon begins to wane. Waning means we gradually see less and less of the moon lit up by the Sun in the sky.
First, we see a waning gibbous, then a waning half moon (sometimes called last quarter) and finally a waning crescent.
Can you see how the names are the same but with waning in front of them instead of waxing?
After all of this, we get a new moon and the cycle repeats itself for another 28 days.
In this activity, you'll be answering questions about the phases of the moon.
Remember that you can look back at this page at any point by clicking on the red help button on the screen.