A Boy From Outer Space STEM Module
Join Nolan, Howard, Samantha, Adrianne, and E.L.F. on a 4-week journey to understand Earth's closest neighbour — the Moon!
✅ 1-ESS1-1 — Use observations of the sun, moon, and stars to describe patterns that can be predicted.
✅ 1-ESS1-2 — Make observations at different times of year to relate the amount of daylight to time of year.
✅ 5-ESS1-1 — Support an argument that the apparent brightness of the sun and stars is due to their relative distances.
✅ ESS1.B — Earth and the Solar System: The orbits of Earth around the sun and of the moon around Earth cause observable patterns.
Nolan
Alien boy · Spaceship builder · Curious about Earth's Moon
Howard
Biologist · Bug jar collector · Tracks moonrise patterns
Samantha
Brilliant engineer · Solar rover builder · Moon landing dreamer
Adrianne
Planetary scientist · Diamond Planet fan · Moon fashion icon
E.L.F.
Shape-shifting robot pet · Can look like a crescent moon!
Discover what the Moon really is, what its surface looks like, and why it seems to follow us everywhere we go!
Nolan Says:
"When I flew my spaceship past Earth's Moon for the first time, I could not believe how BIG it looked! Back on my home planet we had no moon at all. I thought it was a giant grey spaceship someone had parked up there. Samantha had to explain that it was totally natural!"
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. That means it is a natural space object that travels in a big circle — called an orbit — around our planet. It is not a star (it makes no light of its own), not a planet (it orbits Earth, not the Sun directly), and definitely not a giant spaceship (sorry, Nolan!).
Natural Satellite: A space object that orbits a planet because of gravity. Earth's gravity acts like an invisible rope, holding the Moon in its orbit while the Moon travels around us at about 2,288 miles per hour!
The Moon is about one-quarter the size of Earth. If Earth were the size of a basketball, the Moon would be about the size of a tennis ball — placed about 7 metres away!
Think About It: If you weigh 60 pounds here on Earth, how much would you weigh on the Moon? Draw yourself jumping super high on the Moon in your Moon Journal!
Hint: divide your weight by 6. So 60 ÷ 6 = 10 pounds on the Moon!
Challenge: The Moon orbits Earth and Earth orbits the Sun. Can you draw a diagram showing both orbits? Label the direction of travel for each. How many times does the Moon orbit Earth in one Earth year? (Hint: Earth year = ~365 days, Moon orbit = ~27.3 days)
Use a basketball (Earth) and a tennis ball (Moon). Have a partner hold the basketball while you walk in a circle around them holding the tennis ball. Can you feel how "orbit" works? Notice that you always face the basketball — just like the Moon always shows the same face to Earth!
"I've been designing a mini rover to explore the Moon's surface — just like my solar rover back in Nolan's garage, but adapted for lunar gravity! The tricky part is that the Moon has no atmosphere, so there's no wind or rain. That means every crater from a meteor hit stays perfectly preserved for BILLIONS of years. It's like the Moon is a giant history book!"
The Moon's surface is covered in grey dust, rocks, mountains, and thousands of craters — circular holes made when space rocks (meteorites) slammed into the Moon billions of years ago. Because the Moon has no atmosphere, there is no wind or rain to wear these craters away. The footprints left by the Apollo astronauts in 1969 are still there today!
Crater: A bowl-shaped hole made by a meteorite impact.
Mare (say: MAH-ray): Dark flat areas on the Moon called "seas" — but there's no water! They're ancient lava plains. Example: Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility) is where Apollo 11 landed!
Regolith: The layer of fine grey dust covering the lunar surface.
"In Norse mythology, the Moon was said to be a god! But as a real space traveller, I can tell you — the craters on the Moon look like they were made by Mjolnir smashing into the surface at full force. Each impact releases more energy than thousands of nuclear bombs. That's some serious space power!"
Drop different-sized marbles into a tray of flour from different heights. What shapes do the "craters" make? Draw your favourite crater and give it a name!
Research Mission: Look up the "Sea of Tranquility" (Mare Tranquillitatis). Why did NASA choose this site for Apollo 11? What three scientific instruments did the astronauts leave on the surface that are STILL being used today?
"Did you know that the Moon affects life on Earth every single day? My biology research shows that many ocean creatures — crabs, sea urchins, even some fish — use the tidal patterns caused by the Moon to time when they lay their eggs! The Moon isn't just a light in the sky. It's basically running the ocean's schedule!"
The Moon's gravity is strong enough to pull on Earth's oceans. The side of Earth closest to the Moon gets pulled toward it, creating a bulge of water — a high tide. As Earth rotates, different coastlines move into this bulge. Most places on Earth experience two high tides and two low tides every day.
The Bay of Fundy in Canada has the world's highest tides — the water rises and falls by up to 56 feet (17 metres) — taller than a 5-story building — every single day, powered entirely by the Moon's gravity!
Fill a bowl with water. Hold a magnet close to a metal spoon floating on a cork — the spoon "wants" to move toward the magnet. The Moon does something like this with Earth's water! Draw a high tide and a low tide beach.
Think Deeper: Both the Moon AND the Sun pull on Earth's oceans. When the Sun, Earth, and Moon all line up (during Full Moon and New Moon), the tides are extra big — called spring tides. When the Moon is at 90° to the Sun-Earth line, the tides are smaller — called neap tides. Can you sketch a diagram of each?
Why does the Moon's shape seem to change every night? Discover the truth behind the lunar cycle!
Nolan Says:
"Back home, I used to think the Moon was magically growing and shrinking! E.L.F. actually shape-shifted into a crescent moon shape to show me what was happening — and then shifted back into a full circle. That's when I understood: the Moon is ALWAYS a sphere. We just see different amounts of its sunlit side!"
The Moon does not change shape. It is always a sphere. What changes is how much of the Moon's sunlit side we can see from Earth. As the Moon orbits Earth, we see it from different angles — sometimes we see the fully lit side (Full Moon), sometimes we see none of it (New Moon), and sometimes we see a slice (crescent or quarter).
Moon Phase: The shape of the sunlit part of the Moon as seen from Earth.
Lunar Cycle: The full pattern of phases from New Moon back to New Moon — takes about 29.5 days.
Waxing: The Moon is getting bigger (more lit up). Waning: The Moon is getting smaller (less lit up).
"FRIDAY runs all the lighting in my suit — and understanding light angles is EVERYTHING. The Moon is lit by the Sun like a giant flashlight shining on a sphere. The phase you see is just your viewing angle to that lit sphere. I use the exact same geometry to calculate how sunlight hits my solar panels on the Mark 50 suit's arm plates!"
Hold a ball (or orange) in a dark room with a flashlight shining on it. Walk slowly in a circle around the flashlight while watching the ball. Do you see different amounts of the lit side? That's exactly what the Moon does!
Misconception Buster: Many people think a lunar eclipse causes the phases — but that's wrong! Eclipses are rare (a few times per year). Phases happen every month like clockwork. Write a 3-sentence explanation of the difference in your Moon Journal.
"BEEP BOOP — as a shape-shifting electronic life form, I can transform into any Moon phase! Watch closely as I demonstrate all eight phases. My favourite is the Waxing Gibbous because it is 75% lit and 75% of the way to perfect — which is also my performance rating in our last mission!"
| # | Phase | What We See | Memory Trick |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🌑 New Moon | Completely dark (not visible) | A fresh start! |
| 2 | 🌒 Waxing Crescent | A thin C-shaped sliver on right | Growing (waxing) tiny slice |
| 3 | 🌓 First Quarter | Right half lit (D shape) | Halfway to full — "D" for Done half |
| 4 | 🌔 Waxing Gibbous | More than half lit, right side | Gibbous = humped/bulging |
| 5 | 🌕 Full Moon | Entire face lit up! | The Big Round Pizza! |
| 6 | 🌖 Waning Gibbous | More than half lit, left side | Starting to shrink (wane) |
| 7 | 🌗 Third Quarter | Left half lit (reverse D) | "C" shape — almost done |
| 8 | 🌘 Waning Crescent | Thin C sliver on left | Nearly new again! |
"As a planetary scientist, I love how elegant the phase system is! Here's my fashion tip for remembering: if the lit side is on the RIGHT, the Moon is WAXING (growing). If it's on the LEFT, it's WANING (shrinking). Right = Waxing, Left = Waning. Works everywhere in the northern hemisphere!"
Cut out 8 circles from black paper. On each one, use a white crayon or chalk to draw the different phase shapes. Put them in order and make your very own moon phase book!
Mnemonic Challenge: Create your own sentence to remember the 8 phases in order. Example: "Never Was Fred Going Far When Coming Near." Can you make a more creative one using the BFOS characters?
"I track the Moon phases in my nature journal alongside my bug observations! Did you know the Full Moon rises around sunset and sets around sunrise? And the New Moon rises with the Sun (so you can't see it in the daytime glare). I've matched my moth-collecting expeditions to the New Moon for years — moths are more active when it's darker!"
The Moon takes 27.3 days to orbit Earth (the sidereal month). But because Earth is ALSO moving around the Sun, the Moon needs 2.2 extra days to "catch up" and return to the same phase — making a 29.5-day synodic month (lunar month).
For the next 30 nights, go outside at the same time each evening (7–8pm works great) and sketch the Moon's shape in your Moon Journal. Note the date, cloud cover, and what phase you think it is. At the end, you'll have a complete lunar cycle documented — just like a real NASA scientist!
🌐 NASA Resource: Use moon.nasa.gov to check what phase the Moon is in each night.
Draw a big circle on paper and divide it into 4 quarters. In each quarter, draw one Moon phase: New, First Quarter, Full, and Third Quarter. Color the lit parts yellow!
Data Analysis: Record the exact moonrise time each day for 2 weeks using a weather app or moon calendar. How many minutes later does the Moon rise each day on average? (Spoiler: about 50 minutes!) Graph your results.
Eclipses, culture, space exploration — the Moon is far more than just a night light!
"As a planetary scientist who once wrote a paper on the Diamond Planet 55 Cancri e, I think the Moon is criminally underrated as a CULTURAL object! Nearly every ancient civilization made calendars based on lunar phases. The Islamic calendar, the Hebrew calendar, the Chinese lunisolar calendar, the Hindu Panchang — all Moon-based. Even the word 'month' comes from 'Moon'!"
Long before telescopes, people used the Moon's phases to tell time, plant crops, navigate oceans, and perform religious ceremonies. The Moon was the world's first calendar — so reliable and predictable that it was trusted for thousands of years.
"As someone from Krypton, I understand what it means to lose your home star. Kryptonians had two moons and our entire calendar was lunar. The Moon you have here on Earth is something truly precious — a source of beauty, tradition, and scientific wonder all at once. Treasure it."
Nolan Says:
"On my planet, we told stories about a wise old creature who lived inside our twin moons. When Howard told me Earth's Moon had a 'man in the Moon' seen in the craters and dark patches — I looked up and I saw it! It's the mare regions — those dark volcanic plains — that make the face. Different cultures see different pictures in those same patches. A rabbit, a woman, a toad. Isn't it amazing how the same Moon means different things to different people?"
Look at a Full Moon photo (or go outside on a Full Moon night). Can you see the "face" in the Moon? Draw what YOU see in the Moon's patches — a face, an animal, or anything you imagine!
Research Challenge: Pick ONE culture's Moon mythology (e.g., Japanese Moon rabbit, Aztec Coyolxauhqui, or Chinese Chang'e). Write a short paragraph about their Moon story and how they used the Moon in their daily life. How is their Moon calendar different from our Gregorian calendar?
"I built a scale model of the Sun-Earth-Moon system to predict eclipse dates for our crew. Here's the key engineering fact: a lunar eclipse ONLY happens during a Full Moon — but not every Full Moon causes an eclipse, because the Moon's orbit is tilted about 5 degrees from Earth's orbit around the Sun. It has to line up EXACTLY. That's precision engineering!"
During a total lunar eclipse, Earth blocks the Sun's light from reaching the Moon. But Earth's atmosphere bends (refracts) sunlight around the planet's edges. The blue light scatters away (same reason the sky is blue) and only the red/orange light bends around to hit the Moon. So the Moon glows a dramatic blood-red colour. This is why it's called a Blood Moon!
Total Lunar Eclipse: Moon fully in Earth's shadow (umbra) → blood-red Moon
Partial Lunar Eclipse: Only part of the Moon in umbra → one side darkened
Penumbral Lunar Eclipse: Moon in Earth's lighter outer shadow (penumbra) → slightly dimmed, hard to notice
"In ancient times, a Blood Moon was seen as a terrifying omen — warriors would refuse to battle, and people would make offerings to bring the Moon back. But today we know it is one of the most beautiful and predictable events in astronomy. Knowledge truly is power — it turned fear into wonder."
In a dark room, use a flashlight (Sun), hold a ball (Earth) in front of it, and put another ball (Moon) behind the Earth. Can you make the Moon ball disappear into the shadow? That's a lunar eclipse!
Predict the Future: Look up NASA's list of upcoming lunar eclipses. When is the next total lunar eclipse visible from your city? What phase will the Moon be in on that date? Mark it on your Moon Journal calendar!
Nolan Says:
"When I first landed my spaceship in the Milky Way, I couldn't believe humans had already been to their Moon — using CHEMICAL rockets! On my planet, we'd been flying for centuries, but even I was impressed by the Saturn V rocket. It's still one of the most powerful machines ever built by any species I've encountered in my travels. Samantha agrees — she keeps a Saturn V poster in the garage."
Nolan's garage — where big ideas about space and engineering come to life.
On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Moon while Michael Collins orbited above. Armstrong's first words as he stepped onto the surface: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Over 600 million people watched on television — the most-watched TV event in history at that time.
"The Artemis lunar rover I've been studying is basically a descendant of my solar rover! It needs to survive 14-day lunar nights at -280°F with no sunlight. My design uses a Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator — the same tech used on Mars rovers. Engineering the Moon is the ultimate challenge!"
Imagine you're the first kid to walk on the Moon! Draw a picture of yourself in a spacesuit standing on the lunar surface. What would you see? What would you bring back as a souvenir?
Engineering Design Challenge: Design a lunar base! Your crew of 4 people will live there for 30 days. What do you need? (Consider: oxygen, water, food, radiation protection, power, waste.) Draw a floor plan and label each system. How would you use lunar resources to help?
Time to show what you know! Complete the Moon Phase Quiz and the Crew Moon Journal Project.
"COMPUTING MOON DATA — Current lunar missions include: India's Chandrayaan-3 (first soft landing near south pole, 2023), NASA's LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, mapping every crater), and the upcoming Artemis astronauts. Most exciting data point: water ice has been confirmed at the Moon's south pole. This means future lunar bases could extract their own water! EFFICIENCY RATING: MAXIMUM."
The Apollo astronauts left retroreflectors — special mirrors — on the Moon's surface. Scientists on Earth fire laser beams at them and time how long the laser takes to return. This tells us the exact distance to the Moon and has revealed that the Moon is moving away from Earth by about 3.8 cm every year!
"I've seen the world change dramatically since 1945. Back then, the Moon was just a light in the sky. Now we have lasers bouncing off mirrors up there that astronauts placed 50 years ago. Every generation adds to the story. The question is — what will YOUR generation discover about the Moon?"
Ask a grown-up to help you use a ruler and a ball to measure how far away the Moon is using our scale: if Earth = a golf ball (1.6 inches), the Moon would be a small marble about 5 feet away! Set it up and see how far that actually is.
Career Connection: Research one real Moon scientist working today — what is their job title? What university or agency do they work for? What is the most interesting thing they've discovered? Present your findings to your family as a 2-minute "news report."
Try each question! Explorers can pick picture answers; Commanders write full answers. Click to reveal answers!
🌙 Question 1
Nolan asks: "The Moon always shows me the SAME face from Earth. Why?"
🌕 Question 2
Howard's Bug Question: "My moth-collecting is best during New Moon nights. Why would moths be more active when the Moon is dark?"
🌒 Question 3 — Visual Phase ID
E.L.F. transforms into each shape — name the phase!
A: ?
B: ?
C: ?
D: ?
🔴 Question 4
Adrianne asks: "During a Blood Moon, the Moon turns red. What causes this — and why does this only happen during Full Moon?"
🚀 Question 5 — The Big Nolan Challenge
Nolan is building his next spaceship and wants to launch from Earth to the Moon. He has 3 launch windows:
The Crew Moon Journal
The Whole Crew Says:
"Great scientists don't just read about the universe — they OBSERVE it! For our final crew mission, you will track the real Moon for 30 days and create a professional Moon Journal just like we do. Howard uses his for biology, Samantha for engineering reference, Adrianne for her planetary science papers, and I use mine to plan spacewalk windows. What will YOU use yours for?"
🔵 Explorers (Ages 5–7) — "The Moon Sketchbook"
⭐ Bonus: Find the Moon in 3 different places in the sky over 3 different nights. Does it move? Where did it go?
🟣 Commanders (Ages 8–11) — "The Lunar Science Log"
⭐ Extension Challenge: Research how the Moon's phase affected one historical event (e.g., the D-Day landing, a famous sea voyage, or a tribal ceremony). Write a one-paragraph addition to your journal.
| Criterion | Moonwalker ⭐⭐⭐ | Astronaut ⭐⭐ | Cadet ⭐ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Observation Accuracy | All phases correctly identified & dated | Most phases correct, minor errors | Some phases identified |
| Consistency | 25–30 days observed | 15–24 days observed | 7–14 days observed |
| Science Understanding | All concepts accurately explained | Most concepts understood | Basic concepts present |
| Creativity & Presentation | Beautifully illustrated, full crew included | Clear illustrations, some colour | Basic drawings present |
| NGSS Connection | Identifies multiple patterns & makes predictions | Identifies one pattern clearly | Describes what they saw |
✅ BFOS Character ratio maintained: ~8 BFOS references per 5 Superhero references throughout this module, per curriculum guidelines.