Have you ever looked up at the sky and wondered what's going on up there? Up there. Up through the clouds. Have you ever wondered what the moon is made of? Why the stars twinkle? What it feels like to be an astronaut living in space? Sam and Amy have lots of questions about the moon and this is their moon-watching story.
"Look, Sam, there's the moon!"
"Oh, yeah. I can see the moon."
Amy and Sam are looking up at the moon in the daytime!
"Dad, what's it doing there?"
What's it doing there? It's always there. Sometimes you can see it and sometimes you can't.
And that's because of the sun shining lots of light onto the moon.
"OK, let's see."
That's a good idea! Using binoculars will really help Sam and Amy see the moon.
"Wow! It keeps jumping around!"
That's because you have to hold binoculars really steady.
Come on, Sam, let's look for something to balance them on. There's loads of sticks around here. So many. Got a great one over here. Look at that! Fantastic. Just what we want. Shall we go back?
Why on earth would a stick help?
Put that in there. Amy, come over here a sec. Put your binoculars on top of that and see if you can see the moon. Is that steady now?
Yeah, I can see the moon.
Is it really clear?
Yeah.
Ah! Much better now!
"Why does the moon change shape?"
The moon doesn't change shape. It stays the same shape all the time. You can't always see all of it.
Yes. The sun only lights up the side of the moon facing it. Sometimes we can see all of this bright side, but most of the time we can only see some of it. Everyone is making the shapes of the moon. Sometimes we can see a full moon and sometimes a gibbous moon, where we can see most but not all of it. 'Gibbous' is a wonderful word. Gibbous! At other times, we can see a half-moon. We can also see a crescent moon, which looks a bit like a banana.
"Dad, what makes the sea come in and out?"
Well, it's the moon.
"Is it the moon?"
Yes, it's our friend up there, Amy.
It's the moon which causes tides. Because the moon is so close, we get tides as it goes round the earth, moving the oceans around as it travels. Isn't that amazing?
"OK, guys, I think it's time to go."
"But, Dad, can we just stay to see the tide go out?"
"Well, the tide's going to take an awfully long time to go out. Shall we come back later?"
OK.
Let's leave out sticks here.
Sam and Amy are pushing their sticks into the sand to mark the spot that the sea has reached.
Come on.
Let's go!
After lunch, their sticks are exactly where they left them, but the sea isn't. They're taking a photo to show just how far the tide has gone out. The sea is far away. And the moon is nowhere to be seen.
On the way home, they decide to arrange a visit to the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh to find out more about the moon. The observatory is high up on a hill above the city.
"What do you think is up there?"
"Umm, I think queen lives up there!"
"A queen lives up there?!"
They are going to meet an astronomer who can answer all their questions about the moon.
"Let's go and see what's in there, then."
"Let's go and see."
Inside the dome, Tanya shows them an enormous telescope.
And open your eyes!
Cool! That's a big telescope!
It IS a big telescope. It's a VERY big telescope.
Astronomers use telescopes to learn about space.
Say 'star'.
"Star!"
It's dark outside now, so it's time to open the door - there's the moon!
"Let's meet William the astronomer and see what he's going to show us."
"Hi, guys! Come and look at my telescopes. So, have you ever used binoculars?"
"Um, yes, quite a lot."
Sam tells William about their walk 12 days ago when they looked at a crescent moon through the binoculars. Soon it's time to look at tonight's moon through the telescope.
"Step up here, Sam, and you come round here, Amy. Sam, have a look through that eyepiece there. What can you see?"
Wow! I can see the moon.
Is it looking bigger than the binoculars?
"Much bigger. And it's looking ever so white."
The astronomer sets the telescope to see the moon even closer.
Can you see some craters? They look a bit like big bubbles. Can you see things that look a bit like mountains?
Oh, yeah.
The moon's got mountains like on the Earth.
"Is there any water up there?"
"There is a little bit. Astronomers have used spacecraft to go and look at the moon. We've landed things on it and scratched at rocks. There are little bits of water, but it's frozen solid, and there's no big bits, nothing like a big sea or a big ocean. There's just little frozen bits."
"Why is the moon shiny?"
"It's because it reflects the sunlight. It's not shining on its own. Sunlight hits it and it comes shining down to us and it makes it look really bright."
Before they know it, it's time for Sam and Amy to head home.
"What did you enjoy best about today?"
"My favourite part was when we could see the moon through our telescope and you could see the craters on the moon."
I can't wait to see my photos.
We can add them to the shot we took at the sea.
Yeah.
Good.
Brilliant. It's time to go. Do you want to get some hot chocolate?
Yes!
Come on, then. Fantastic. What a great day.
Video summary
The two children look up at the sky through binoculars and learn about the phases of the Moon.
Soon they leave for the Royal Observatory Edinburgh to look closer still at the Moon and find out about craters, mountains and other features.
This clip is from the series Little Stargazing
Teacher Notes
This clip could be used to develop an awareness of the phases of the Moon, tides, how we look at the Moon and what we can see on the Moon.
Children could make a moving model showing how the Moon seems to change shape and construct a giant telescope from kitchen foil tubes and look through it as it points through the opening of a tent ‘observatory’.
This clip will be relevant for teaching Physics or Science Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 in England and Northern Ireland, Key Stage 2 in Wales and First / Second Level in Scotland.
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