What I learned about: The Moon.

            The Moon; it's what little kids dream about, it's in history books, and it's what I learned about in science class. Even though the Moon is a rather repeated subject that we hear much about. I think that it is fascinating because it's roughly 250,000 miles from Earth and we can still learn about it. Though it may about the width of America, is an intriguing area of science that I have always loved more than cake physics.

            The Moon is surprisingly both the same and different from the earth in many ways. Over fifty years of research has shown multiple areas of resemblances and differences to Earth. The Moon and our world are both terrestrial planets (rocky planets). Both objects are not smooth on the surface. They both have soil, deep valleys, rivers (the moon’s “rivers” do not have water in them) and they both have basins.

           

            The soil on the moon (regolith) is also similar to the Earth! The pebbles in the soil are made of basalts (from minerals and eruptions). Such examples are as plagioclase feldspar and olivine. Those kinds of rocks are ones that we can scout out here, on Earth. However the moon has no life on it. This means that its soil isn’t organic, like Earth’s. In order for the moon’s soil to be like Earth’s, it would need to be originating from a form of life (like a plant, animal, or human).



  Just like the earth has The Grand Canyon, the moon has its version of it. They are called pits.  The pits on the moon are aged scars from asteroids and meteors that impacted into the Moon and exploded. Because it faces an open space, the farther hemisphere of our moon has more craters. Also, the side that faces Earth has fewer craters because we shield the moon from debris (our atmosphere burns it up).

 The Moon’s rilles are like Earth’s rivers. They are basically stretched out valleys. However, they are barren of water. Some scientists think that there may be small pockets of ice in the Moon’s poles. This happens by a comet or meteoroid hitting the surface and leaving ice behind on the Moon’s surface. However, since the Moon has major temperature changes in one day, the state of water (solid, gas, liquid) would be constantly changing.

Like the earth has seas’, the Moon has maria which is a fancy awesome word that means "sea," however maria on the Moon are flat areas on the moon. Maria are more common on the side of the moon that faces the Earth; the far side has very few of these plains. Scientist have no explanation for this.

“Earth and the Moon have been in a wrestler-hold of gravity for as long as time,” says Globio. Just like the Earth pulls the Moon into orbit around us, the Moon has a gravitational pull!! Woo Hoo! I know, you’re so excited. Anyways, when the Moon orbits around us it also is multitasking because it pulls on the oceans. This results in the water shifting toward the Moon. It ALSO means that when you go to the beach you can tell your parents that there is a high/low tide because of the Moons gravitational pull, and THEN they’ll think that you’re REALLY smart.

 Now that we know the similarities, let’s go into the differences between the Moon and Earth. They include, the atmosphere, temperature, and phases.

The Moon also has no protection barrier, or atmosphere, covering it from harmful space stuff celestial objects, solar wind, molecules (like neon, helium, hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen). The molecules and solar wind emitted from the sun's force impact the moon's exterior directly and are entrenched into mineral grains. It is estimated, by really smart scientists, that about half of the moon's surface make-up “is oxygen, bound up in silicate minerals,” says Extreme Science.

The Earth’s temperature is relatively mild to the moons! “The temperature on the Moon ranges from daytime highs of about 130°C = 265°F to nighttime lows of about -110°C = -170°F,” says Enchanted Learning. Talk about a BIG humongous difference.

The last difference is phases. The moon itself doesn’t disappear, but it is an act of a light illusion. The luminosity of the moon is actually the light of the sun reflecting off the surface of the moon.  The moon’s phases include first quarter, full moon, last quarter, and new moon.

Now that the differences are covered, let's go over my reflections on what I learned.

When learning about the moon I did have difficulty remembering eclipses for the quiz. I think it was because we just didn't cover it enough in class. I think watching a video over it might has helped me.

My problem solving skills helped my studying! I knew that I needed to study more on eclipses and that I was good at remembering certain terms. However, I made the mistake of studying the terms too much and not focusing on the weaknesses.

Like I said in the begininng, the moon is almost always mentioned in our history books. We see it when we (America) first laneded on the moon. And today, we see that our trip to the moon was certainly one small step on the moon for one man, but for mankind it meant a new age in time.

The moon may have many differences to the earth, but, it isn't that ddifferent when compared to me (believe it or not...). Like the moon I have phases. I may feel sad one day and another day I may be happy over everything! Like the moon, I have my own "gravitational pull" on people (otherwise known as and influence on people). They also influence me! The moon and I also reflect light! The moon reflects light off of the sun (in space) and I reflect light off of the Son. The son of God of course! Only through Him do we have this amazing, never ending playground called space. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light, and there was light.'" Genesis 1:1-3

 -Caitlin

(By the way, I’ve typed the word MOON so many times that it looks misspelled… J )

Source:

http://www.globio.org/glossopedia/article.aspx?art_id=38

http://www.extremescience.com/moon.htm

http://www.globio.org/glossopedia/article.aspx?art_id=38

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/moon/
http://planetfacts.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/The-Moon.jpg