Celebrate Our Personal, Cultural, and Scientific Connections to the Moon!
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Celebrate Our Personal, Cultural, and
Scientific Connections to the Moon!
March 27, 2014
Facilitators:
Anita Davis, Douglas Lowthian, and Ruth Paglierani, Earth to Sky
Keliann LaConte and Andy Shaner, Lunar and Planetary Institute
Guest Presenters:
Dr. David Kring, Lunar and Planetary Institute
Danielle York, National Park Service
Technical Support:
Ramiro Padilla, Lunar and Planetary Institute
Explore Program
• Create and distribute hands-on activities that
• Are FUN!
• Are designed for out-of-school settings
• Rely on inexpensive materials
• Can be flexibly implemented
• Highlight Earth and space science and engineering concepts
through investigations, demos, crafts, and facilitated conversations
• Provide training to informal educators
• Funded by NSF and NASA
Objectives and Intended Outcomes
• Model hands-on activities
Peak your interest!
• Give you access to online resources and real, live people to
talk to about doing Moon programming
Inspire you to look in detail at our online resources
Hear about your plans and ideas (action plans!)
…so we can better serve you in the future…
• Your programs engage children, youth, and/or families active
learning about our Moon!
Explore: Marvel Moon Online
www.lpi.usra.edu/explore/marvelMoon
Connections to the Moon • Formation • Composition • Features • Cultural stories about the Moon’s appearance • Effects of the Moon on Earth • Tides • Phases • Influences on life on Earth • Exploration
MARVEL MOON ACTIVITIES
What Do You See in Today’s Moon?
When you go outside to look at the Moon, see if you can read its geologic history – its science story in its features
The Moon’s Story 1) Lunar Highlands formed from an ocean of magma 2) BIG asteroids hit the Moon, making BIG holes (basins) 3) Lava filled in the basins, making the dark maria 4) Smaller, less frequent impacts
Lunar Highlands
Whitish to light
gray parts of
the MoonThe highlands are
mostly made of one
mineral: Plagioclase
Feldspar
(It’s the white part of granite)
60025
~4.5 GaLunar Highlands Maria
BIG circles –
impact basins -
are where BIG
asteroids hit the
Moon
The dark color
is from cooled
lava - maria.Our young solar system was a messy place!
Mare is made of
Basalt
Mostly: Pyroxene, Plagioclase, Olivine, Ilmenite
Rare: Armalcolite, Tranquillityite
(Similar to the rocks in Hawaii)
15555
~3.3 GaAll quiet…except for the occasional
“little” impact ...
Like the 6-mile
wide asteroid that
created
Copernicus Crater
800 million years
ago
Or the 5-mile wide
asteroid that
created Tycho
Crater 108 million
years agoTime Travelers • Youth work in groups to determine the order of key Earth and Moon geologic events • Arrange images in the correct order using clues on the cards
Planets Form
Formation of Earth's Moon
Hot Early Moon
Moon’s Oldest and Largest Features Form
Moon Volcanos Erupt!
Earliest Evidence Indicating Life (?)
Tycho Crater Forms on the Moon,
Dinosaurs WatchDinosaurs Go Extinct
Homo sapiens (Modern Humans) First Appear
Twelve Astronauts Visit the Moon
Your Birth Year
Time Travelers
• How does your local geology tie in?Q&A Dr. David Kring
Your Site’s Connections to the Moon
GETTING TO KNOW OUR NEIGHBOR
Earth’s Bright Neighbor
Activity
• The Moon is the biggest and brightest object in the night
sky
• Many of us do not have a sense of how far away the Moon
is … how much “space” is between us in space – or how
big (or small!) the Moon is compared to Earth and the Sun.
• Models can help us explore these scales!Moon in Action
MORE MARVEL MOON ACTIVITIES!
Loony Lunar Phases • Children recreate the pattern of lunar phases • For ages 8-11 (can be adapted for younger children) • Edible activity • Celebrate the Moon’s influence on stories, poems, and songs • (See Lunar Phases: A Dance Under the Sun for WHY we see phases, for ages 10+)
Moon Over My Town
• Visitors contribute their photos of the Moon!
• Post images online in chronological order
…to show the Moon's changing appearance in your local skyMoon Over My Town
International Observe the Moon Night
http://observethemoonnight.org
• September 6, 2014
• Engaging the lunar science and education communities, museums, schools,
libraries, amateur astronomers, space enthusiasts, and the general public
in an annual lunar observation campaign that shares the excitement of
lunar science and exploration.
T H E MO
E RVE ON
B S NI
O
GH
L
NA
T
INTERNATIO
InOMNLunar Atmosphere and
Dust Environment
Explorer – LADEE
www.nasa.gov/ladee
Gather detailed information about:
1) the lunar atmosphere,
2) conditions near the surface and
3) environmental influences on lunar
dust.Lunar Reconnaissance
Orbiter
http://www.nasa.gov/lro
Gather high-resolution
data about the lunar
surface and surrounding
environmenthttp://solarsystem.nasa.gov/yss/
nasawavelength.org Find NASA STEM Resources
www.lpi.usra.edu/explore/marvelMoon
http://earthtosky.org/
• Download the action plan template and post your plan for
others to see
• Participate in the online discussion thread
• Link to Moon-related resourcesLINGERING QUESTIONS?
PROGRAMMING DISCUSSION
--the interactive part!LPI info
Project Title
• Location where this will be implemented:
• Type of Product (Interp talk, training, exhibit, etc.)
• Audience (peers, adults, kids, etc. include expected numbers if possible)
• Thematic statement
• Measurable Objective(s)
• Interp/Educational Technique(s)
• Short description of product (2 – 3 sentences)
• Expected implementation date (estimated)
• Explore: Marvel Moon activity used (list most used)
For More Information Contact:LPI info
Project Title: Scale the Moon!
• Location where this will be implemented: Visitor Center viewing porch and nearby dunes trail.
• Type of Product: Interpretive Activity
• Audience: All ages, family focus. National park visitors and area campers.
• Thematic statement: Connect with the visible moon in a new way by exploring the scale of size and
distance involved in the Sun/Earth/Moon relationship.
• Measurable Objective(s):
• Predict the scale size and distance of the Earth and Moon using given physical objects.
• Enable a deeper understanding of the size of the observed moon that day using the scale model created.
• Interp/Educational Technique(s)
• Inquiry and prediction (which object would correspond to the Earth/Moon if the sun was a given size)
• Imagination (how far away is the moon that you can see right now according to this scale? the sun?)
• Short description of product: Begin by asking how far the visitors can see from here: the moon
(238,500 miles away). Observe the moon using a small telescope, noting crater details and how
“far” the moon seems to be. Given a set of objects (rocks), have the group generate predictions
regarding the scale size and distance between the Sun/Earth/Moon. Conclude by discussing how
“close” the moon seems to be now that we can see a bit of the scale involved including the
distance to the Sun. Our lunar neighbor!
• Expected implementation date (estimated): mid-April, 2014
• Explore: Marvel Moon activity used (list most used): “Earth’s Bright Neighbor”.
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/explore/marvelMoon/activities/whatIf/brightNeighbor/
For More Information Contact:LPI info
Project Title: Create Your Own Crater!
• Location where this will be implemented: Outdoor night hike in a sandy environment, Colorado.
• Type of Product: Interpretive Activity
• Audience: All ages, family focus. National park visitors and area campers.
• Thematic statement: Experience the process of crater creation and explore the variables which
result in observed lunar crater landforms.
• Measurable Objective(s):
• Safely create at least one mini crater in a sandy environment
• Describe the difference that impactor size has on crater formation
• Identify two elements of similarity/difference between lunar and local environments
• Interp/Educational Technique(s)
• Kinesthetic activity (creating a crater)
• Inquiry emphasis (altering variables to achieve an expected result)
• Short description of product: Use impactors (rocks) to model cratering processes, using flashlights
to highlight craters from the group for discussion. Challenge the group to vary impactor size, angle
of impact, and impact speed to attempt to model observed lunar craters. Continue by extending the
discussion to include how environmental differences (atmosphere, erosion, vegetation) would alter
the expected crater landforms. Conclude with the story of a possible crater in the sand and ask
people to make their own predictions based on geologist’s observations of that potential “crater”.
• Expected implementation date (estimated): early May, 2014
• Explore: Marvel Moon activity used (list most used): Crater Creations.
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/explore/LRO/activities/craterCreations/
For More Information Contact:Thank you! Keep in Touch!
http://earthtosky.org/
www.lpi.usra.edu/explore/marvelMoon
Explore
Department of Education and Public Outreach
Lunar and Planetary Institute
3600 Bay Area Boulevard
Houston TX 77058
explore@lpi.usra.edu
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