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THE PHYSICAL EDITION

Moon and Mornings

Vince wants to draw the Moon. His notebook follows a faint circle, passing clouds, a changing place in the sky and different bright shapes across nights and mornings. Look closely together and compare the pictures he keeps.

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Explore the science

Looking and recordingPages 1–2

Vince pauses with his pencil and notebook to look at a bright curved part of the Moon. Sunlight makes the crescent bright. A drawing can keep the shape he notices at this particular time.

Ask together: What shape is Vince trying to draw?

Earthshine and the whole MoonPages 3–4

A closer sky view reveals a faint round part beside the much brighter crescent. Sometimes sunlight reflected from Earth makes the rest of the Moon faintly visible. This earthshine is easier to notice in some twilight conditions than others.

Ask together: What can you notice beyond the bright curve?

Clouds and visibilityPages 5–6

A thick cloud hides the Moon; a gap reveals the crescent again while Vince waits. An opaque cloud can block our view. Its passing does not change the Moon’s monthly phase.

Ask together: What changes between these two pictures?

Comparing with a fixed landmarkPages 7–8

In two views from the same spot, the crescent appears lower and farther across the tree as the evening goes on. Earth’s turning makes the Moon appear to travel across the sky. A fixed tree or roof helps us compare its position.

Ask together: Where is the Moon compared with the tree each time?

Changes across nightsPages 9–10

Several nights later, Vince compares his earlier crescent drawing with a Moon whose right half looks bright. The Moon itself has not grown. As it travels around Earth, we see different amounts of its sunlit half.

Ask together: How does the bright part compare with Vince’s earlier drawing?

Watching toward full MoonPages 11–12

After more nights, Vince carries his notebook to another side of the garden and sees a bright round Moon above the orchard. Near full Moon, almost all of the side facing us is sunlit. A full Moon rises around sunset.

Ask together: What kind of drawing could Vince add now?

Daylight visibilityPages 13–14

In pyjamas at a closed window, Vince spots a pale Moon in the blue morning sky. The Moon reflects sunlight in daytime too. After full Moon it can remain in the morning sky; visibility depends on the phase, date, place and weather.

Ask together: What is different about the sky around this Moon?

Waning and comparing recordsPages 15–16

On a later morning, Vince draws a half-bright Moon beside an earlier full-Moon record. After full Moon the visible bright portion gets smaller over successive days. His notebook can keep both observations for comparison.

Ask together: What has changed between the two notebook drawings?

Sources and evidence

  1. A crescent Moon can have a dimly visible round remainder, lit by earthshine. The bright crescent is not the whole physical Moon.

    NASA Moon Viewing Tips

    NASA Earth Observatory: Earthshine

    Earthshine is sometimes visible; sky clarity and contrast matter. The closer sky view is not a scale map.

  2. Clouds can obstruct a Moon observation without changing its phase; a passing gap may reveal the same phase minutes later.

    NASA JPL: Observing the Moon

    NASA Moon Observation Journal

    Some clouds are thin enough for the Moon to remain visible. A thick cloud can hide it, and a clear gap may reveal it again.

  3. The Moon can change position relative to fixed horizon landmarks over one evening, here becoming lower as it approaches setting.

    NASA Moon Phases

    NASA: Why Can You See the Moon During the Day?

    Position comparisons work from the same safe viewpoint using fixed landmarks. Movement during one evening and changes in phase across many days occur on different timescales.

  4. Across multiple nights the visible bright portion can grow from crescent through first quarter to full, then become smaller on later mornings. The Moon itself does not grow or shrink.

    NASA JPL: Observing the Moon

    NASA Moon Phases

    These selected observations span several weeks. The pictures use northern-hemisphere orientations; apparent tilt varies with the observer’s place and time.

  5. A waning Moon may be visible in a blue morning sky; the Moon is not exclusively a night object.

    NASA: Why Can You See the Moon During the Day?

    NASA Moon Phases

    Visibility depends on the Moon’s phase and position, the date, the observer’s location and the weather. Use only your eyes, and never look at the Sun.

  6. Ordinary lunar phases arise from our changing view of the sunlit half as the Moon travels around Earth. Clouds and Earth’s shadow do not cause these phases.

    NASA Moon Phases

    NASA JPL: Observing the Moon

    Ordinary lunar phases have a different cause from the darkening during a lunar eclipse.

  7. Repeated dated drawings of the Moon and nearby fixed landmarks can record changes, while missed observations remain gaps in the record.

    NASA Moon Observation Journal

    NASA JPL: Observing the Moon

    Weather, obstacles and the Moon’s position can prevent a sighting. Recording a missed observation is useful too.

Water and Wind

Water and Wind, pages 1–2: Wind moves the pinwheel.

Spread 1 / 12

Wind tickles my cheek. Round goes my pinwheel.

Explore the science

Wind & forcesPages 1–2

Wind moves the pinwheel. Wind is moving air. Vince feels it on his cheek and sees it push the pinwheel's angled blades.

Ask together: What tells you that the air is moving?

Currents & eddiesPages 3–4

Water passes the rock. A leaf circles behind it. Most water passes the rock; some circles back in an eddy. Laminar flow is orderly; turbulence is irregular, mixing motion. A swirl alone cannot distinguish them.

Ask together: How does the leaf move compared with the water passing the rock?

Waves & energyPages 5–6

Waves spread from the stream. The duck bobs. The falling stream makes waves that carry energy outward and make the toys bob. The stream's current also carries toys along. Bobbing and drifting are different motions.

Ask together: What moves up and down? What moves along the pond?

BuoyancyPages 7–8

A duck floats. A pebble sinks. Water pushes upward on both objects. This buoyancy balances the duck's weight, but not the pebble's. The pebble's splash makes the rings on the next spread.

Ask together: Where is each object compared with the surface?

When waves meetPages 9–10

Two wave patterns approach one another. When gentle waves overlap, their heights add, briefly raising or lowering the surface. This interference does not erase the waves; they continue through one another.

Ask together: What might happen where the two patterns meet?

Surface tensionPages 11–12

Tiny dents appear beneath the strider’s legs. Surface tension helps support the strider where its water-repellent legs dent the water. The duck floats mainly by displacing water.

Ask together: What do you notice where its legs meet the water?

Suction & pressurePages 13–14

The duck bubbles, fills and squirts. Squeeze underwater: air bubbles out. Release with the opening submerged: the elastic duck springs back, lowering pressure inside. The surrounding water pressure pushes water in. Squeeze above water: water exits through that same opening.

Ask together: What changes when Vince squeezes and then lets go?

Lift & gravityPages 15–16

A paper plane glides forward and down. The throw starts the plane moving. Airflow around its wings produces lift and turns air downward. Gravity pulls down; drag resists motion. In still air, the plane glides forward and gradually descends.

Ask together: Where might the plane go next?

ViscosityPages 17–18

Milk runs. Honey stretches into a thread. Honey's greater viscosity means greater resistance to flow. It makes a slow thread while milk runs readily. Temperature and pouring method also matter; this snack is an observation, not a controlled test.

Ask together: How do the milk and honey move differently?

Draining & swirlingPages 19–20

Foam curves inward toward the drain. Gravity drives water through the drain. Existing turning motion can become a curved inward flow, traced by foam. Here water travels to the outlet, unlike waves crossing the pond. Not every drain swirls.

Ask together: Can you follow the foam toward the drain?

Scientific observationPages 21–22

Vince sketches what he noticed. Vince records something he noticed. Drawings, marks or words let him return to an observation. He does not need all the answers.

Ask together: Which earlier picture matches one of his drawings?

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