This site contains a series of visualizations of the sun, moon and Earth System and how they relate to the changing face of the moon. Animations are in the form of Java applets, forms for field observation of the moon, and a collection of exercises and PDF versions of background material. There are practice questions and quizzes that discuss the animations. Full description.

This tutorial contains animations that illustrate factors related to seasons on Earth. There are two sets of animations. The first set establishes viewpoints for observing the seasons and the second set studies the seasons on a planet with a 40-day year. In some of the animations, the user can control variables such as time. There is also a PDF file that features a learning guide about the Seasons ... Full description.

This site features Flash, QuickTime, and GIF animations that illustrate the cause of seasons, how seasons impact the sun's apparent path across the Earth's sky, the subsolar point, and the circle of illumination. The animations can be paused and rewound to stress important points. These resources are suitable for use in lectures, labs, or other teaching activities. Full description.

Intended for use in introductory astronomy courses, this Java-based tutorial demonstrates lunar phases clearly and logically. It includes sections on time of day, time of month, and apparent direction of the moon. The Java demonstrations are meant to complement the explanations of concepts. A typical demonstration involves a stick figure human on the earth's surface, which can be interactively moved ... Full description.

This lesson plan is part of the Center for Educational Resources (CERES), a series of web-based astronomy lessons created by a team of master teachers, university faculty, and NASA researchers. In this lesson, students gain a deeper understanding of cosmology by gathering evidence for the Big Bang theory. They explore the Hubble Law and create a model of the expanding universe. This lesson contains ... Full description.

This lesson is designed to teach younger students about why the Moon appears different during various times of the month. Students will acquire knowledge of how the phases of the moon occur in planet and satellite rotation, and demonstrate their understanding by writing an explanation of what they did and how and why it happens. Full description.

In this activity students record data about moon phases over the course of one complete moon cycle. The data will be used later in the course when students are building a model to account for the phenomenon of moon phases. Each student will gather data for the date and time, the color of the moon, the weather, the location in the sky and the shape and features of the moon from each day of an entire ... Full description.

This activity has students work in small groups, using Moon observation data to identify a pattern in the way the Moon appears to change shape. They use their Earth-Moon-Sun (EMS) model to account for the cycle of Moon phases and answer extension questions related to this phenomenon. Students will take a quiz on Moon phase identification, complete an EMS model summary sheet, and complete a self-assessment ... Full description.

In this activity, students observe and record the appearance of the Moon each night for 29 days (a lunar month). They will cut out the drawings they have made and staple them together to make a flip-book that shows an animation of the Moon as it changes throughout the month. A downloadable, printable log book for recording observations is provided, and the site also features an interactive diagram ... Full description.

This activity has students use internet resources to learn about celestial coordinates, and how to use an emphemeris to locate planets on a horizon sky map. The sky maps are then used for outdoor observing. A more advanced application has students draw maps in celestial coordinates. They first learn about the celestial coordinate system astronomers use and then they generate a position, or ephemeris, ... Full description.