Lunar Learning

Which 2 balls represent the size relationship between the Earth and  Moon? 

We are studying Astronomy for our science this year. It has been fantastic because so far we have seen a complete Lunar Eclipse, and a couple nights ago both Venus and Mars were visible when the moon was rising. 

I did not plan this study to coincide with these events, God orchestrated it just for us!

 The Earth is 4 times larger than the moon, yet the moon is responsible for our tides, and has influence on the gravity of our planet. 

Did you know that only 12 men have ever walked on the Moon? Because the Moon has no wind or rain, the footprints the Astronauts left are still there!

We also did some experiments to see how high we could jump if we were on the moon. Surprisingly, my little girls could jump a whopping 8" here on Earth, if they were on the Moon they could jump 24". The big kids could jump 16" on Earth, but 96" on the Moon. You can jump 6X higher on then Moon, than on Earth. 

The Moon is also the only place in our whole Solar System that people have actually visited, beside the Earth. We decided to make some Astronauts and design a Lunar Module that could land safely. The requirements were that the Astronauts could not be secured in (i.e.: glued, tied, or otherwise restrained) and that the landing had to be soft.

Every day my Family Room looks, at least to some degree, like this. Apparently, the children learn better and are much more creative with some disorder and lots of options.

Ian took several tries to design a Lunar Module that did not contain restraints for his Astronauts. It looked amazingly like a parachute. His Module landed softly but his Astronauts were ejected from their device.

Taylor's was by far the softest landing and least likely to lose an Astronaut. She rolled pieces of note cards into supports for her Lunar Module, then poked holes through the sides and inserted the supports and secured the whole thing together using tape. It had a wide landing and the helicopter like thingy on top made it land slowly and therefore more gently.

They are currently attempting to track the moon's phases for an entire month, and learning to use the telescope that they received for Christmas.
I enjoy learning as much, probably more, than my children and begin able to discuss what we have learned as we go about our day. Plus, it is really helpful to have so many hands clean up after we complete a messy project or experiment.