Hobbies And Interests
Beginner
Elementary schools students can develop science projects around the causes of lunar phases. They can begin by learning the names for phases--the difference between waning and waxing, crescent and gibbous and full moon and new moon--along with the moon's rotation that causes these phases. Students can build a model to demonstrate this, using a light bulb on a stand as the sun and a styrofoam ball on a stick as the sun. Using their own heads as their vantage point from Earth, they can discover the phases by rotating the ball around their heads while the light bulb illuminates from behind. If there is enough time, students also can photograph the moon's phases for a month or draw the different phases, showing the angles around the earth needed for each phase. Demonstrating how phases differ in the Northern and Southern hemispheres is another project.
Intermediate
Older students should consider projects that not only demonstrate the causes of lunar phases but some of the direct effects they have on Earth. The clearest example is the tides. Students can find moon phase data from the U.S. Naval Observatory and tide data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They can chart this data with a line graph on an X-Y axis, comparing the high tide with the current phase of the moon over a month or even a year. After charting the data, students should research the moon's gravity and its effect on tides. As an alternative, students can study the effects of the moon's brightness during its different phases, using a light meter to measure it for a month as well as observing the number of stars they are able to see during each phase.
Advanced
Advanced students can develop their own hypotheses about lunar phases and research to see if the data supports it. Students could consider studying the effects of the moon's phases on human behavior, long a subject of folklore and speculation. Suggest they get discipline records from their principal or emergency call data from the local police station and compare that data with the lunar phases, seeing whether misbehavior--or lunacy--does indeed increase during a full moon. They also could test hypotheses of the moon's effects on natural phenomena, such as seismic activity or temperatures, or they could procure local birth data to determine whether the lunar cycle has any effect on birth rates.