Sandburg Center for Sky Awareness
A Fairfax County Public Schools Planetarium
Student Version | Core Concepts Agenda | SCSA Home

Grade 8 Planetarium Visit Agenda

  1. MOON PHASES, TIDES, & ECLIPSES
    1. Moon Phases - UCO/Lick Observatory Astronomical Photographs (What's wrong with these pictures?)
      1. Moon Phaser
        1. Determine Current Moon Phase
          1. NEW MOON CALENDAR
          2. 2001 Calendar
        2. Determine Approximate Time of Moonrise & Moonset
        3. Verify Predictions
          1. Moon Calendar (moon phases for the current month)
          2. Approximate Time of Moonrise & Moonset
          3. Sun and Moon Data for One Day, U.S. Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department
          4. Planetarium Sky
      2. Moon Phase Animation (Java)
      3. Orientation of Sun, Earth, and Moon During Waxing & Waning Phases
        1. Waxing - Right Side Lighted
        2. Waning - Left Side Lighted
      4. Earth Phases
      5. Moon Phases Versus Tides
    2. Eclipses
      1. Solar Eclipses (Sun Blocked by Moon)
        1. Moon Phase Diagram - In which phase is the moon?
        2. Ecliptic/Nodes - The plane of the moon's orbit around the Earth is not in the same plane as the Earth's orbit around the Sun (tilted ~5 degrees)
        3. Solar Eclipse Projector
        4. Partial Solar Eclipse Animation (as viewed from Fairfax County, VA) - 26 February 1998
        5. Demonstration: Umbra/Penumbra
        6. GOES Loop - 26 Feb. 1998 Solar Eclipse, a small GIF animation (0.2 MBytes)
      2. Lunar Eclipses (Moon in Earth's Shadow)
        1. Moon Phase Diagram - In which phase is the moon?
        2. Why Are Lunar Eclipses More Common than Solar Eclipses?
        3. Lunar Eclipse Projector - Total Lunar Eclipse
    3. Moon Fun Facts
  2. REASONS FOR THE SEASONS
    1. What Causes the Change of Seasons?
      1. Changing Earth-Sun Distance?
        1. Perihelion: 1 Jan
        2. Aphelion: 30 Jun
      2. Duration of Insolation (Number Hours Daylight) - Equinoxes and Solstices
      3. Angle of Insolation (Altitude of Noon Sun) - Equinoxes and Solstices
    2. Demonstration: Angle of Insolation Versus Energy Intensity
    3. Annual Path of the Sun
      1. MAR
        1. Sunrise Photographs
        2. Show Path of Sun - Sunrise, Noon, Sunset. Stop Sun at Noon.
          1. Show Geosphere
          2. Vernal Equinox (equal nights)
      2. JUN
        1. Sunrise Photographs
        2. Show Path of Sun - Sunrise, Noon, Sunset. Stop Sun at Noon.
          1. Show Geosphere
          2. Summer Solstice (Sun stop)
          3. Tropic of Cancer/Signs of the Zodiac
      3. SEP (skip - similar to MAR)
      4. DEC
        1. Sunrise Photographs
        2. Show Path of Sun - Sunrise, Noon, Sunset. Stop Sun at Noon.
          1. Show Geosphere
          2. Winter Solstice (Sun stop)
          3. Tropic of Capricorn/Signs of the Zodiac
  3. CURRENT NIGHT SKY (SPRING)
    1. Light Pollution
    2. Northern Sky
      1. Ursa Major (Big Dipper)
        1. Mnemonic: Spring high; Fall low
        2. Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer - STAR GAZER Episode #SG 025-I: How To Time Travel Through The Big Dipper
      2. Ursa Minor (Little Dipper) & Polaris - From the Big Dipper, follow the "Pointer Stars" to Polaris (the Pole Star)
      3. Cassiopeia (the Queen) - Letter "W" in Spring (low in the sky); letter "M" in the Fall (high in the sky); the Milky Way Galaxy runs through Cassiopeia
    3. Southern Sky
      1. From the handle of the Big Dipper, follow the arc to orange Arcturus, in the constellation Bootes (the Shepherd)...
      2. ...then on to blue Spica, in the constellation Virgo (the Maiden)
      3. Corona Borealis - semi-circle of stars near Bootes
      4. From the Big Dipper, follow the Pointer Stars to Leo (the Lion)
      5. Gemini (the Twins)