Churchill Science

Here is a collection of some videos, games and activities about the Earth’s nearest neighbor, our Moon.

It’s the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon. Click on the picture to visit wechoosethemoon.org, an interactive website that is tracking the mission as though it were happening right now. It features audio, photos, and videos.

After June 20th, the site will stay up and you will be able to click through the entire mission from start to finish.

What is it like to be on the Moon?

Astronauts on the moon – notice how they get around. Are they walking normally? How much is the Moon’s gravity pulling them?

Dropping a feather and hammer on the moon – This experiment should look familiar. We did something like this in class together. The difference is – no air on the moon, so the feather won’t float. Also notice how much time it takes for both objects to hit the ground.

Throwing a hammer on the moon – Notice how high the hammer goes, and how long it takes for it to come down. What would that look like on Earth?

Explore an interactive map of the Moon with Google Moon! Click the picture to try it!

The Earth, Moon and Sun system

Click here to explore the relationships between the Earth, Sun and Moon.

Click here to play the Earth, Sun, Moon game!

Where did the Moon come from?

From the Museum of Natural History

This video is called Origins of the Moon. Don’t worry about the big words and the advanced math – this is just showing the same idea as the video from the Museum of Natural History. When Earth was first born, it had no Moon. Then, another planet too close by hit the Earth. The Moon was formed from that explosion. There was nothing living on Earth at the time. We’ve also talked a lot in class about how this could not happen again today because there are no planets that come very close to us.

Just the animation:

Why does the Moon look different on different nights from Earth?

This calculator will show you what the Moon will look like on any calendar day. The day in the picture is Lisa’s birthday. Click on the picture to try it!

Click on the picture to play the Lunar Cycle Challenge! The Moon looks different each night because the Earth and Moon are always moving around the Sun. This game will help you to learn about how the Moon’s shape changes every day. What patterns do you notice?

Why does the Moon look like it changes? This shows some nice footage of the Earth, Moon and Sun together. It makes it easy to see how the Sun’s light makes one side of the Moon look bright. But, sometimes the bright side is facing away from us or only facing towards us a little bit. So, the Moon sometimes looks dark or has a crescent shape.