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The Earth and the Moon in Motion: Concept Map

≈ 24 min
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Concept Map

Organise the vocabulary, quantities and relationships into a connected model.

This extension applies that lens specifically to The Earth and the Moon in Motion.

Three bodies, three motions, and almost everything we call "time" comes out of them.

MotionHow long it takesWhat we get from it
The Earth rotates on its axisabout 24 hoursDay and night
The Earth revolves around the Sunabout 365¼ daysThe year (and the extra quarter-days give us a leap year every four years)
The Moon orbits the Earthabout 27.3 days against the stars, and 29.5 days from one new Moon to the nextThe month

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite — an object held in orbit by the pull of a larger body's gravity. It is about 384 400 km away, and its diameter (about 3 475 km) is roughly a quarter of Earth's (about 12 742 km).

The Moon has almost no atmosphere. That single fact explains most of what it is like there: no wind, no weather, no sound, no blue sky, craters that survive for billions of years because nothing erodes them, and a surface that swings from roughly +120 ∘+120\ ^\circC in sunlight to about −130 ∘-130\ ^\circC in darkness with nothing to hold the heat in.

Worked example — how far is the Moon, really? Imagine you could drive to the Moon in a minibus at a steady 100 km/h without ever stopping.

time=distancespeed=384 400 km100 km/h=3 844 hours\text{time} = \frac{\text{distance}}{\text{speed}} = \frac{384\,400\ \text{km}}{100\ \text{km/h}} = 3\,844\ \text{hours}

That is 3 844÷24≈1603\,844 \div 24 \approx 160 days — more than five months of non-stop driving, roughly Johannesburg to Cape Town about 270 times. And the Moon is our nearest neighbour in space.

Natural Sciences — Grade 8 — Concept Map: Why can we see the Moon shining at night?

Natural Sciences — Grade 8 — Concept Map: Name the movement of the Earth that causes day and night.

Natural Sciences — Grade 8 — Concept Map: Craters made billions of years ago are still sharp and clear on the Moon, while craters on Earth wear away. What is the main reason?

Name the original topic being extended by this concept map lesson.

Which statement is the best evidence-led starting point for The Earth and the Moon in Motion: Concept Map?