Moon Phases & Eclipses

Learn about moon phases and eclipses! Label phases, match vocabulary, and identify eclipses.

Moon Phases Pay close attention to the vocabulary used in the video. Match the Names of the phases with their description. New Moon When the moon is directly between the Earth and the Sun; the moon is not visible from Earth. Waxing Crescent A tiny sliver of the right side of the moon is visible. A little bit more is visible each night. First Quarter The right half of the moon's surface is illuminated. The moon is one quarter of the way around its cycle. Waxing Gibbous More than half of the moon appears illuminated and grows more and more each night. Full moon The moon appears completely illuminated from Earth. Waning Gibbous More than half of the moon appears illuminated, but you see a little less each night. Third Quarter Only the left half of the moon's surface appears illuminated. The moon has made 75% of its trip around the Earth. Waning Crescent You see less than half of the illuminated portion of the moon each night until you see only a slight sliver just before sunrise. Label the moon phases. Use the words below to help with spelling. first quarter full moon new moon third quarter waning crescent waning gibbous waxing crescent waxing gibbous first quarter waxing crescent waxing gibbous third quarter waning crescent full moon new moon waning gibbous Use your vocabulary from today's lesson to fill in the blanks below.first quarter full moon illuminated new moon The new moon occurs when the moon is positioned between the earth and sun. The three objects are in approximate alignment (why "approximate" is explained below). The entire illuminated portion of the moon is on the back side of the moon, the half that we cannot see.At a full moon , the earth, moon, and sun are in approximate alignment, just as the new moon, but the moon is on the opposite side of the earth, so the entire sunlit part of the moon is facing us. The shadowed portion is entirely hidden from view.The first quarter and third quarter moons (both often called a "half moon"), happen when the moon is at a 90 degree angle with respect to the earth and sun. So we are seeing exactly half of the moon illuminated and half in shadow. Eclipses Pay close attention to the vocabulary used in the video. Fill in the blanks using the word bank below. earth moon penumbra sun umbra sun earth penumbra umbra moon Which type of eclipse is shown in the above diagram? lunar eclipse solar eclipse Fill in the blanks using the word bank below. earth moon penumbra sun umbra sun umbra penumbra earth moon Which type of eclipse is shown in the above diagram? lunar eclipse solar eclipse