Moon Journal
A young girl has waited for the night that her father will take her owling in the woods near where they live. He chooses a winter night with a bright full moon when the trees stand still as statues and the world is silent as a dream. Bundled in warm clothes, they trudge through snow trailed by their shadows with the snow as white as the milk in a cereal bowl. Pa makes an owl call but nothing happens. Then Pa calls again and from out of the darkness "an echo/ came threading its way/ through the trees.'' When you go owling all you need is a moonlit night and hope.
This story is beautifully told by Jane Yolen in the book Owl Moon. You can listen to the whole story read aloud and see the illustrations athttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJ9cNoF7d_o
Pa chose a night with a full moon. If you were going to go out during the next month, what day would you choose to go? What time of night would be best? Use the moon phase calculator here to determine a good night for an owl hunt.
The moon is always changing. Keeping track of the moon is an exploration to do with a Moon Journal.
Materials Required
Print out a copy of the moon journal to use for your observations. Use the back of the page for additional observations and comments. https://moon.nasa.gov/resources/12/moon-observation-journal/
Procedure:
Spend the next month getting to know the Moon.
Set aside some time each day to look at the Moon. Record your observations in the log provided on the back of the page. Once you have completed your observations for the whole month, consider the questions below.
Questions:
1. Did the Moon look the same each day? If not, describe how it changed throughout the month.
2. Did you see the Moon at the same time each day throughout the month? Was there a pattern to the time when you were able – or not able – to observe it? If so, describe the pattern.
3. Did anything ever prevent you from being able to see the Moon? If so, what? Could you figure out what the Moon would have looked like if you could have seen it? If so, how?
4. What do you think will happen to the Moon’s shape in the sky during the next week?
5. Look up information on the phases of the Moon. Indicate in your Moon Observation Log (on the back of this page) where you think the Moon most closely matched each of the following phases: Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full Moon, Waning Gibbous, Third Quarter, Waning Crescent, and New Moon.
6. What questions do you have about the Moon? Look up information about the Moon that interests you, and share what you learn with your friends and family.
7. Bonus – Look for satellites when you make your moon observations. Record any you see on your Moon Journal page.
8. Vocabulary. Watching the moon gives you an opportunity to learning the meanings of some new terms. See if you can learn what these words mean: crescent, gibbous, waxing, waning
Discussion:
· It takes 29 1/2 days for the moon to go from a new moon back to a new moon
· The moon rises at a different time each day.
· This website has a map of the moon and a lot of moon information. This website explains the phases of the moon.
· You can check your local newspaper and some calendars to see when the moon is new.