Teacher: Ms. Clausing and Ms.

Picking
Grade Level/Subject Area: First Grade Science
Lesson Title: Phases of the Moon
Time: 30 minute class period
Standards Addressed:
First
Grade Science 1.E.1.2 Recognize patterns of observable changes in the Moons
appearance from day to day
Objective: Given images of different phases of the moon, first grade students will be
able to recognize the different phases of the moon with no errors.
Required Materials: paper, pencil, phases of the moon poster, paper plate, napkin,
oreo cookies, markers, popsicle sticks.

Anticipatory Set: Ask students when the best time is to see the moon?
What does the moon look like at night?
What does the moon look like during the day?
Does the moons shape change?
Time: 3 minutes

Instruction: The Moon!

Explain that the moon changes its appearance every single day, and these are called phases of the
moon.
Discuss how sometimes you can only see a sliver of the moon and sometimes you can see the
whole moon, depending on the day.
Hang up a poster that displays the different phases of the moon at the front of the classroom so
every student can see it. The poster will have images of the phases along with names and will
look like the image below.

 Now that students have seen the phases of the moon, explain why this occurs:
The moon takes about 1 month to travel around the earth and the different phases of the moon
occur when the moon is at different points in its orbit.
Demonstrate this by holding 2 objects and rotate one object around the other (with the rotating
object acting as the moon and the stationary object acting at the Earth).
Explain how the moon looks different to us each time it changes position.
Time: 7 minutes

Independent Practice: Cookie Moon Phases!

Pass out a napkin and paper plate for each student.
Pass out a marker for each student to use.
Describe that we will be recreating the phases of the moon using oreo cookies. (And if they do it
correctly then they can eat a cookie at the end)
Keep the moon phases poster at the front of the classroom so that students can refer to it for help.
Hand out four oreo cookies per each student and a popsicle stick.
Have each student twist the oreo cookies to break apart the halves.
The cream part of the oreo is the moon, and the black cookie is the sky.
Move parts of the cream around with the popsicle stick to to replicate the phases of the moon.
When each student is done recreating their phases of the moon, they will lay them out on their
paper plate in order.
Once they are in order, students will label the different phases underneath the cookies with the
marker.
The teacher will go around the classroom and check to see if they got it right, and help correct
them if it is wrong.

 The finished product should look like this:

Time: 15 minutes
Closure:
The teacher will conclude the lesson by asking students to share one thing that they have learned
today about the phases of the moon that they did not know before. Students will raise their hand
to share their information while the teacher will make a list on the board of their facts. The
teacher will also tell students to go outside tonight while holding their cookie project, and try to
determine what phase the moon is in. Tomorrow the students will come in with their answers and
the teacher will reveal which phase of the moon is correct.
Time: 5 minutes