Daisy Space Science Explorer Badge Workbook

For this booklet you should prep 2 things:

• Find out when the next New Moon and Full Moon will be.
• Have craft supplies so each girl can make her own telescope (non-working, just a craft that looks like a telescope).

Pages 1-2: About the Sun

The first two pages are about the Sun. They explain how Earth moves around the Sun. Earth also rotates as it moves around the Sun. This rotation gives us “days.” The side of Earth facing the Sun has daytime. The other half is experiencing nighttime.

As Earth rotates, it looks like the Sun is moving. But it's not. We're the ones moving.

We can track this rotation by looking at shadows. Have a small object that stands about an inch off the ground. A good object would be something along the lines of a Lego person.

If you're able, you can go outside and do this over a few hours. If not, you can use flashlights to simulate the Sun.

Have the kids place their little object on the dot on Page 2 and trace the shadow the object makes. Now wait an hour and do it again, or move the flashlight to simulate the Sun's movement in the sky. Have them trace the shadow again. Repeat once more.

Pages 3-4: About the Moon

Now we'll discuss the Moon. As Earth travels around the Sun, the Moon travels around us. Depending on where it is on its trip around Earth, we may see the Moon glow. This glow is actually the Sun shining on the Moon's surface.

These changes in the Moon's appearance happen because of the positions of the Moon, Earth, and the Sun as the Moon orbits our planet.

A waxing moon means the Moon is growing and becoming brighter.

A waning moon means the Moon is shrinking and becoming less visible.

On Page 4, have the girls first number their calendar to show the next 30 days. Do a quick search for when the next New Moon and Full Moon are. Have the girls color the date of the Full Moon in YELLOW and the New Moon in BLACK.

Next, they find the midpoint between them. Color this date half YELLOW and half BLACK. This is the First Quarter Moon. Now color the moons in between the Full and Quarter Moon, making the YELLOW part smaller each day. Do the same from the Quarter Moon to the New Moon, with the YELLOW part getting smaller until it's almost all BLACK.

The girls should then observe the Moon on these dates. Does the Moon look like their chart?

Pages 5-6: Telescopes

Lastly, talk about telescopes.

Telescopes help us see objects that are very far away.

They use light to magnify an image. They do this with either lenses or mirrors.

The light enters the telescope through a lens. This lens is curved, which focuses the light down to a focal point. After the focal point, the light spreads out again and passes through the eyepiece lens. This lets us see very far objects up close.

Now that the girls know about telescopes, they can decorate their own pretend telescope. Either provide cardboard tubes, craft supplies and glue, or just have them decorate the image of the tube in the booklet.