8th Grade Science: Moon phases, Eclipses, Tides

Review of the moon phases, eclipses, and tides involving our home planet, Earth.

moon

A natural satellite that revolves around a planet

29.5 days

Time it takes from new moon to new moon., how many days does it take for a complete moon cycle to take place?

Moon Phases in order

new moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, last quarter, waning crescent, new moon

Waxing

Moon increasing in brightness from the right

Waning

Moon decreasing in brightness from the right

new moon

moon phase that occurs when the Moon is between Earth and the Sun, at which point the Moon cannot be seen because its lighted half is facing the Sun and its dark side faces Earth

Waxing Crescent

A phase of the moon coming after a new moon and before a 1st quarter moon that is a lit up crescent on the right

First Quarter Moon

when the right half of the sunlit side of the moon is visible

Waxing Gibbous

a phase of the moon that comes after a 1st quarter moon and before a full moon where almost all of the moon is lit up from the right to the left, except a small bit on the left.

Full Moon

the time when the moon is fully illuminated

Waning Gibbous

a phase of the moon that comes after a full moon and before a last quarter moon where all of the moon is lit up except for a small bit on the right side of the moon that we can see.

Third Quarter moon

the waning phase of the moon when it appears to be half dark and half light; left side visible, the moon phase half way between the full moon and new moon where the moon appears to be half visible.

Waning Crescent Moon

lit up on left side of moon, lit more than a new moon but less than a quarter moon

umbra

the darkest part of a shadow

penumbra

lighter shadow of an eclipse

Solar Eclipse

occurs when the Moon passes directly between the Sun and Earth and casts a shadow over part of Earth

lunar eclipse

occurs when the Earth passes directly between the Sun and the Moon and casts a shadow over the Moon

Total Eclipse

this is what the people directly in the path of the umbra observe.

Partial Eclipse

only partly blocking the sun, you must be in the penumbra to see it

high tide

these occur during the two ocean bulges, on the side of the earth facing the moon and on the side of the Earth facing away form the moon

low tide

the lowest point on shore that the ocean reaches (occurs when the sun and moon are not in line)

neap tide

a tide with the least difference between high and low tide that occurs when the sun and moon pull at right angles to each other.
(first and last quarter moon phases)

spring tide

a tide with the greatest difference between high an low tide that occurs when the sun and the moon are aligned in a line with Earth.

(new and full moon phases)

6 hours 12.5 minutes

The actual time from one tide change to another. ex. High tide at 12:00 pm, low tide at 6:12:30 s pm.

tidal range

the difference in levels of ocean water at high tide and low tide

revolves

The moon rotates at a similar rate that it \____________. This is why we only observe the same side from Earth's surface.