The moon's monthly orbit around the earth is tilted slightly, and it can pass as much as 5 degrees above or below a line between the earth and sun. In that case, the moon's shadow will miss the earth, and no eclipse will be seen. Thus a solar eclipse is possible only when the moon is exactly on that earth-sun line, and in the new phase. Two weeks later, when the moon is in its full phase, it passes behind our planet, and can slide into the earth's shadow. This is called a lunar eclipse.
Lunar eclipses can be both partial and total, just like solar eclipses.
A total lunar eclipse has a much larger shadow because the earth is larger than the moon. Many more people on the earth can see a totally eclipsed moon, compared with a totally eclipsed sun. Remind the students that it takes one whole month for the moon to go around the earth. An eclipse occurs when the earth, moon and sun are exactly aligned in space. A solar eclipse occurs when our moon, passing between the earth and the sun, casts a shadow across a portion of the earth's surface.