Name:______Date:______Pd:______
Phases of the Moon and Lunar and Solar Eclipses Questions
Multiple Choice (Study Guide)
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
____1.What causes the phases of the moon?
a. / the relative positions of the moon, Earth, and the sunb. / the tilted orbit of the moon
c. / the moons period of revolution just equals its period of rotation
d. / sunlight reflecting off Earth’s surface
____2.What happens during a total solar eclipse?
a. / The shadow of Earth falls on the moon.b. / A thin ring of the sun shows through.
c. / The moon completely covers the sun.
d. / The moon is about the same size as the sun.
____3.Why do we always see the same side of the moon from Earth?
a. / because its phases are constantly changingb. / because its period of rotation equals its period of revolution
c. / because half of the moon is always in sunlight
d. / because the moon changes its position relative to Earth
____4.Why don’t solar and lunar eclipses occur every month?
a. / The moon’s orbit is an ellipse.b. / The moon’s distance from Earth changes.
c. / The shadows do not line up correctly.
d. / The moon’s orbit is tilted.
Completion
Complete each statement.
Use the terms from the following list to complete the sentences below.
period of rotation / period of revolutionlunar eclipse / phases
solar eclipse
5.When the Earth’s shadow falls on the moon, a ______occurs.
6.The amount of time an object takes to orbit around another body once is its ______.
7.The amount of time an object takes to rotate once is its ______.
8.The different appearances of the moon are called ______.
9.When the moon’s shadow falls on part of Earth a ______occurs.
Short Answer
10.Diagram, label, (position of the sun, earth, and moon) and explain how a solar eclipse forms. Draw the diagram at the bottom of the next page.
11.Diagram, label (position of the sun, earth, and moon) and explain how a lunar eclipse forms. Draw the diagram at the bottom of the page.
Other
Use the image below to answer the following questions.
12.Look at the moon chart shown above. Label each lunar phase with the correct phase name from the following list: new moon, full moon, first quarter, last quarter, waxing gibbous, waning gibbous, waxing crescent, waning crescent. Then answer the questions that follow.
13.What causes the moon to change its appearance throughout the lunar cycle?
14.Look at the chart you just labeled. What do the terms waxing and waning mean in relation to the lunar phases?
15.Explain why we only see one side of the moon from Earth.