# Experimentation in the teaching of Moon phases: experience with the use of prototypes and simulators in the final years of elementary school

Vitor Amorim, Rui Manoel de Bastos Vieira

► To cite this version:

Vitor Amorim, Rui Manoel de Bastos Vieira. Experimentation in the teaching of Moon phases: experience with the use of prototypes and simulators in the final years of elementary school. Boletim da Sociedade Astronômica Brasileira, 2022, 33 (1), pp.162-163. hal-05024294

HAL Id: hal-05024294

https://hal.science/hal-05024294v1

Submitted on 23 Apr 2025

HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access
archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci-
entific research documents, whether they are pub-
lished or not. The documents may come from
teaching and research institutions in France or
abroad, or from public or private research centers.

L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est
destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents
scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non,
émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de
recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires
publics ou privés.

<figure><img src="image_1.png" /></figure>

Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
# Experimentation in the teaching of Moon phases

## Experience with the use of prototypes and simulators in the final years of elementary school

V. Amorim<fnref n="1" /> & R. M. B. Vieira<fnref n="2" />

**Abstract.** This work aims to discuss the relevance of experimentation in Astronomy education, through an experience report. In order to promote students' understanding of the relationship between the different phases of the moon and the positions of the Earth and Moon in relation to the Sun, we used various resources such as models and prototypes of the Sun-Earth-Moon system from Styrofoam balls and flashlight, in addition to images and computer simulations. These strategies were chosen to facilitate the understanding of the 3D geometry of the Sun-Earth-Moon system, promoting a better understanding of the events and concepts involved. The use of varied resources in different approaches in the classroom makes it easier for students to understand the contents covered, especially Astronomy, a field that is generally very abstract for students. We found that the explanations with the artifacts facilitated discussions on the mechanisms of formation of the Moon's phases, eclipses, the synodic month and the difficult understanding of the existence of the Moon's rotational movement. Prototypes, the students are more motivated, questioning more about the approached subject and better understanding the programmed content, because the students are able to have a greater assimilation of the phenomena that occur in nature when using different languages.

**Resumo.** Esse trabalho objetiva discutir a relevância da experimentação na educação em Astronomia, por meio de um relato de experiência. Com a finalidade de promover a compreensão dos alunos sobre a relação das diferentes fases da lua com as posições da Terra e da Lua em relação ao Sol, utilizamos variados recursos como maquetes e protótipos do sistema Sol-Terra-Lua a partir de bolas de isopor e lanterna, além de imagens e simulações computacionais. Essas estratégias foram escolhidas para facilitar o entendimento da geometria 3D do sistema Sol-Terra-Lua promovendo uma melhor compreensão dos acontecimentos e conceitos envolvidos. A utilização de recursos variados em diferentes enfoques na sala de aula facilita a compreensão dos alunos dos conteúdos abordados, principalmente da Astronomia, um campo, geralmente, muito abstrato para os estudantes. Verificamos que as explicações com os artefatos facilitaram as discussões dos mecanismos de formação das fases da Lua, os eclipses, o mês sinódico e a difícil compreensão da existência do movimento de rotação da Lua. Notamos que no uso de recursos como simulações computacionais, maquetes e protótipos, os alunos ficam mais motivados, questionando mais sobre o assunto abordado e entendendo melhor o conteúdo programado, porquanto, os discentes conseguem ter uma maior assimilação dos fenômenos ocorridos na natureza ao utilizar diferentes linguagens.

**Keywords.** Teaching of Astronomy – Moon – Diffusion

## 1. Introduction

The relevance of approaching the Astronomy theme in the final years of elementary school can be identified by research pointing to a growing interest in recent years. According to Gonçalves & Bretones (2020), academic productions on the phases of the Moon show that it is one of the most discussed subjects. In this sense, this work aims to discuss the relevance of experimentation in Astronomy education, through an experience report on the conduction of the mandatory internship in the Licentiate Degree in Natural Sciences. Classes with themes about the main phases of the Moon and its causes were planned for students in the 6th year of elementary school at a municipal school in São Paulo. Throughout these classes, the main phases of the Moon and their causes were discussed. As didactic resources were used: Data Show presentations with several images, models, prototypes and computer simulations. We tried to verify how these didactic resources within the school space could serve as support for the teacher and facilitator in the construction of students' knowledge.

For Langhi & Nardi (2012) Astronomy participates in our lives in an intense and inexorable way, where numerous areas of human knowledge emerged with information and inspiration

derived from Astronomy. When children enter school they bring with them spontaneous, previous and alternative concepts to explain the phenomena that happen in the world (Langhi 2011). This knowledge can be created in your fantasy, through life experiences, common sense and even coming from the media, such as children's stories, cartoons, movies, music, etc. According to Tignanelli (1998) students look for their own explanations, generally supported by their fantasy, whether mythical or mystical. If there is no access to other options, in formal education or in an extra-school environment, this magical thinking can persist for a long time, perpetuating itself as a concurrent knowledge to scientific knowledge, for possible interpretations of the world.

## 2. Description of actions

For the report in question, we highlight the classes given during the internship for a class of the 6th year of elementary school in a municipal school in São Paulo, we especially detail the last three classes, in which the theme of the phases of the Moon was developed, using several didactic modalities. Throughout these classes we discuss what are the phases of the Moon and their causes.

<footnote n="1">¹ Mestrando em Ensino de Ciências e Matemática, ICAQF, Unifesp e-mail: vitor.amorim@unifesp.br</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Departamento de Ciências Exatas e da Terra, ICAQF, UNIFESP e-mail: rui.vieira@unifesp.br</footnote>
<figure><img src="image_2.png" /><figcaption>FIGURE 1. Artifact of the Sun-Earth-Moon system.</figcaption></figure>

In the first class on the subject, the objective was that stu-
dents could identify the four main phases of the moon and the
times when this star appears and disappears in the sky. Then,
there was an expository-dialogue class with the presentation of
several images with a projector on the phases of the moon, in
which each student received a form to record and systematize the
information. The form contained space for notes and drawings of
the “Moons” for students to paint according to each phase.

In order to promote students’ understanding of the relation-
ship between the different phases of the moon and the positions
of the Earth and Moon in relation to the Sun, we used various re-
sources such as models and prototypes of the Sun-Earth-Moon
system from Styrofoam balls and flashlight, in addition to im-
ages and computer simulations. These strategies were chosen
to facilitate the understanding of the 3D geometry of the Sun-
Earth-Moon system within the field of Astronomy and for a bet-
ter understanding of the events and concepts involved.

The models and prototypes were characterized by low-cost
didactic resources already used in the educational field to assist
in the teaching-learning process, facilitating the learning of sci-
entific concepts that need a spatial perspective, considered dif-
ficult for students to abstract (Leite & Hosoume 2009). We
consider that it is a great contribution within the teaching of
Astronomy, allowing the student to handle the equipment and
carry out different configurations of the Sun-Earth-Moon sys-
tem.

The main resource used was a model containing the stars
of the solar system as the planet Earth, the Moon and the Sun
(Figure 1). The model is made up of two Styrofoam spheres, one
representing the Earth and the other the Moon. The Sun is rep-
resented by a light bulb. The lamp is fixed at one of the ends and
the other spheres are fixed to some mobile rods, thus allowing
the system's movements, both rotational and translational.

For computer simulations and images (Figure 2), we sought
to bring teaching practice closer to the technologies that are in-
creasingly common in the school environment, allowing us to
explore a reality in which the generation of students is already
familiar, in addition to contributing significantly to the teaching
of Astronomy. Therefore, the changes caused by technological
means caused changes in the methods of transmission and con-
struction of knowledge, reflected in the pedagogical discourse,
being a tool to assist the teaching-learning process (Araujo &
Veit 2011).

With this, through a dialogue class in which students expressed their ideas, manipulating artifacts and simulations with the aid of visual resources, they were able to clarify their doubts and expand their knowledge about the causes of the changes in the Moon's phases. Finally, a systematization activity on the theme was applied, which consisted of painting the illuminated

<figure><img src="image_3.png" /><figcaption>FIGURE 2. Lunar Phases Simulator.</figcaption></figure>

region of the Moon according to its position in relation to the
Sun and identifying the four main phases.

3. Final considerations

Given the points and experiences pointed out in this report, it is
certain that the internship period in the teacher's training course
is of paramount importance, as it is it who gives the possibility to
future teachers to monitor and understand the daily school reality
and observe how the practice of this profession takes place.

The use of varied resources in different approaches in the
classroom elucidates the students’ understanding of the contents
covered, especially within Astronomy, a field that is generally
very abstract for students. Through explanations with the arti-
facts presented in this work, it was possible to discuss the for-
mation mechanisms of the Moon’s phases, eclipses, the syn-
odic month and the difficult understanding of the existence of
the Moon’s rotational movement. When the teacher adopts re-
sources such as computer simulations, models and prototypes,
the students are more motivated, questioning more about the ap-
proached subject and better understanding the programmed con-
tent, because the students are able to have a greater assimilation
of the phenomena that occur in nature when using different lan-
guages. Therefore, we can say that within the school space we
observe the great importance of teaching resources as support
for the teacher, according to the content taught.

References

Araujo, I. S., & Veit, E. A. (2011). Uma revisão da literatura sobre estudos relativos a tecnologias computacionais no ensino de física. *Rev. Bras. Pesqui. Educ. Ciênc.*, 4 (3).

Gonçalves, P. C. S., & Bretones, P. S. (2020). Um Panorama de Pesquisas do Campo da Educação Sobre a Lua e suas Fases. *Ciênc. Educ.*, 26, e20007.

Langhi, R. (2011). Educação em Astronomia: da revisão bibliográfica sobre concepções alternativas à necessidade de uma ação nacional. *Cad. Bras. Ensino Fis.*, 28 (2), 373-399.

Langhi, R., & Nardi, R. (2012). Educação em Astronomia: repensando a formação de professores. São Paulo: Escrituras Editora.

Leite, C., & Hosoume, Y. (2009). Explorando a dimensão espacial na pesquisa em ensino de astronomia. *Rev. Electrón. Enseñ. Cienc.*, 8 (3), 797-811.

Tignanelli, H. L. (1998). Sobre o ensino da astronomia no ensino fundamental. In H. Weissmann (org.). *Didática das ciências naturais: contribuições e reflexões*. Porto Alegre: Artmed.