Moon Phases Science Lesson Plan 🌘🌑🌒

I did this activity with my after school students in 2020 and it was a hit! Of course anything involving sugary sweets is approved by kids, but they were engaged and alert the whole lesson.

This activity follows the following Next Generation Science Standards:

ESS1.A: The Universe and Its Stars – Patterns of motion in the sun, moon, and stars in the sky can be observed, described, and predicted (1-ESS1-2).

ESS1.B: The Universe and Its Stars – The orbits of Earth around the sun and of the moon around Earth, together with the rotation of Earth about an axis between its North and South poles, cause observable patterns. These include day and night; daily changes in the length and direction of shadows; and different positions of the sun, moon, and stars at different times of the day, month, and year. (5-ESS1-2)

I gave them each a paper plate, pencil, and plastic knife (or popsicle stick) before handing out the Oreos. Be wary – as soon as you hand out sweets they WILL try to eat them right away! I found it necessary to explain to my students that they will only be getting 4 Oreos so if they eat one, their final result won’t look complete. We labeled our phases and colored an earth in the middle of the plate. After we completed our diagrams we discussed the phases and patterns and how we can predict them. Then we ate our moons! 🍪🌙