Development and Evaluation of a Moon Phase Model Linked with Observational Results

Abstract

We developed a moon phase model for use in lower secondary school third-grade Science classes. The modeled moon phase is strongly linked with actual observations through an angle between the directions of the moon (or its model) and the sun (or a light source). We also developed a moon phase study program, in which the model should be used, so that we can evaluate the effectiveness of the model in practical use for students' understanding. We surveyed the students who had these programmed lessons by questionnaire in order to measure how well they had understood the "relationship between the moon's phase and the moon's relative position to the Earth and the sun" and the "relationship between the observed and modeled moon phases". We obtained the following results: (1) The percentage of correct answers increased significantly after the lessons and also two months later, which suggests that our study program using the model is effective for students' understanding and establishment of their concept of moon phase. (2) A high percentage of the students having the programmed lessons have considered that the phases of the observed moon and the modeled moon are seen in the same way, which suggests that a linkage between the observation and the model has been established in their view of the moon phase.