THE AMAZING MOON BOOKLET Researched by Luke Mackie

THE AMAZING MOON BOOKLET Researched by Luke Mackie Primary 7 February 2014 1

CONTENTS PAGE 1. Front Cover 2. Contents Page 3. Phases of the Moon 4. Surface of the Moon 5. People in Space 6. Animals in Space 7. Myths about the Moon 8. General Facts 9. Sources of Information 10. The Moon 2

PHASES OF THE MOON o There are 8 phases of the Moon o Their names are: New Moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full Moon, Waning Gibbous, Last Quarter and Waning Crescent o It takes about 29. 5 days to complete the cycle of the Moon 3

SURFACE OF THE MOON o The surface of the moon consists of lava plains, craters, mountains and valleys o Scientists believe that the craters were formed around 3. 5 to 4. 5 billion years ago by meteors hitting the surface of the Moon o The Moon has no water or weather conditions o Footprints left on the Moon by Apollo Astronauts will remain visible for at least 10 million years because there is no erosion on the Moon 4

PEOPLE IN SPACE o People first walked on the Moon on the 21 st of July 1969 o They were the American Astronauts: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin o Michael Collins was part of this mission and he successfully orbited the Moon o There are currently 6 people in space today (4 th February 2014) o Two Americans, one Russian and three Italians 5

ANIMALS IN SPACE o On November the 3 rd 1957, Laika the dog from the USSR, was the first living creature in space o Laika was also the first animal to orbit the earth o The French sent a cat named Felix into space on October the 18 th 1963 o The government of Iran has claimed that they want to launch a Persian cat into space in the early months of 2014 o Other creatures who have been space include: rodents, fish, chimpanzees, monkeys, amphibians, nematodes (worms), water bears and spiders. 6

MYTHS ABOUT THE MOON o The Moon is made out of cheese - in the 16 th century, people would put a bucket of water in the moonlight and encouraged people to dip into the bucket to retrieve the cheese o The Moon can turn human beings into animals, e. g. a werewolf - in the past, people’s sleep patterns were disturbed by the light of the moon and this gave them ‘Porphyria’ which made their hair and nails grow long and made them act differently o A Full Moon ‘makes you bonkers’ – Sussex Police used to put extra Officers on duty when it was a full moon 7

GENERAL FACTS o A rainbow is caused by the Moon’s ultraviolet lights after it rains o The Moon is the Earth’s only natural satallite o The Moon is very hot during the day and very cold at night o The average temperature is 107 Degrees Celsius during the day o A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is between the Moon and the Sun 8

SOURCES OF INFORMATION / ILLUSTRATIONS www. woodland-junior. kent www. space. com www. listverse. com www. sciencekids. co. nen. wikipedia. org/wiki/Werewolf en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Rainbow 9

THE MOON 10