Ask Sally Science - How Close Is The Moon?

Have you ever wondered how far the moon is from Earth?

Have you ever wondered how far away the moon is? It looks so close up in the sky - but that's only because it's REALLY big! In actuality, the moon is 384,000km away!

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Lunar Lander Challenge Activity

Explore the surface of the Moon by making a lunar lander that will allow an astronaut to survive a touchdown on this harsh landscape. Even though the Moon is the closest object to Earth, its surface is vastly different with no water or wind on the hard and rocky surface.

What you need:

• Paper cup

• Paper (newspaper, construction paper, and/or tissue paper)

• Plastic bag

• Popsicle sticks

• Tape

• Scissors

• Astronaut (made with ping pong ball, pom pom, marshmallow, or small toy) 

Background:

The surface of the Moon is rough, barren, and covered in fine dust. There are no soil bacteria to break down organic material, no wind to erode rocks, and no tectonic activity to make changes to the surface of the Moon.

Imagine a group of astronauts in orbit around the Moon. They are trying to land their lunar lander on the surface of the Moon. However, something went wrong with their landing gear. They ask the ground crew back on Earth what to do. You are part of the team on Earth, with only basic supplies, you need to find a way to fix the lunar lander and help the astronauts land on the surface of the Moon.

What you do:

Build a model of a lunar lander that can softly land on the Moon making sure to keep the astronauts safe in the cabin. You only have a limited amount of supplies since the astronauts in this scenario would only have limited supplies.

• The astronauts can be either a ping pong ball, pom pom, marshmallow, or other small toy. Use the paper cup for the cabin where the astronauts will sit.

• How will the astronauts stay in the cup? What can you create to protect it from the fall? Remember the astronauts will need to get out of the cabin so you can’t tape it inside.

• How will the lunar lander absorb the impact? What shock absorption could you create? Try folding paper in an accordion to create a spring that absorbs the shock.

• Is there a way to slow the descent of the lunar lander? Keep in mind, there is no wind on the Moon.

• The surface of the Moon is soft, covered by dust that doesn’t move around. How might this be an advantage or a disadvantage? If the dust layer is soft, it would help cushion a landing. However, if it is too soft, the lander could sink into it and get stuck.

• Use as few supplies as possible. Challenge yourself to use the least amount of supplies. Can you build a Lunar Lander with only three of the supplies?

• Test out your lunar lander. Place your astronaut into the cabin and drop it to the ground. Did the astronaut stay in the cup? How high did it drop from? Test again from a higher place.

• Test the lunar lander on different surfaces. The surface of the Moon is uneven and covered by a soft layer of dust. See if your model will land in a location that has uneven ground such as grass, carpet, sand, or rocks.

• Imagine the scenario the astronauts are faced with. How would they build the model you are suggesting? What equipment or supplies would be needed to do so?
  

Explanation:

Because Moon has a very thin atmosphere and lacks wind, the surface of the Moon rarely changes. We can see a history of millions of years of meteors bombarding the surface.  Landing on the Moon can be tricky. Spacecrafts need to slow down in order to land gently and keep those on board safe.

 On the Apollo missions, the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) was used. This electric vehicle was designed to operate in the low-gravity vacuum of the Moon and was capable of moving across the lunar surface. The Apollo astronauts did a range of explorations on the lunar surface. Three LRVs were driven on the Moon, Apollo 15, 16, and 17. The furthest distance travelled by an LRV was by Apollo 17, which travelled 35.9 km in 4 hours 26 minutes. The Lunar Roving Vehicle that weighed about 210 kg could hold an extra 490 kg on the lunar surface. This extra capacity was designed to hold the weight of the astronauts, their equipment and the rock samples they collected.

Take it further:

After you have done this activity, try out one from the Canada Space Agency Junior Astronaut program. In Survivor Moon you will need to pick which supplies are the most important for your team to take on a trek across the Moon.

https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/resources-young/junior-astronauts/activities/teamwork-and-communication/survivor-moon.asp

Tips and Tricks:

•  Encourage questions, imagination, and exploration. If an idea seems impossible, let your children explore the idea safely and let them explore solutions even if they do not work. To prevent frustration and encourage overcoming challenges, ask prompting questions such as ‘how can this be changed to have a different outcome?’. 

• Find footage from the first space walk and show it to your children. Or, reach out to older members of your family and ask, “where were you when the first astronaut walked on the Moon?”

• Make it more of a challenge by making all the supplies a mystery. Place three of the building supplies into a paper bag and only allow for the materials in the bag to be used. This is a way to encourage critical thinking and innovation.

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Elements R Us With Tommy Tungsten - Helium

Tommy Tungsten gives you the scoop on the element helium!

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Shadow Exploration Challenge Activity

Creating shadows can be a fun way to explore light. When sunlight travels to the earth and is blocked by an opaque object, the light can travel through it, creating a shadow. Using both natural and artificial light, explore how you can create shadows.

Indoor Shadow Exploration

Story telling with shadow puppetry is an ancient form of entertainment which uses flat articulated figures as puppets which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen. It uses shadow, the space where light from a source is blocked to change different characteristics of the puppets. China, France, India, Turkey, Thailand, and many more countries have a long history of using shadow puppetry as art and entertainment.

What you need:

• Dark paper

• Bright light (flashlight, flood lights, lamp, or outdoor solar light)

• White tissue paper or wax paper (or a thin white sheet)

• Cardboard box

• Sticks (for example, skewers, chop sticks, pencils, drinking straws)

• Tape

• Scissors

• Knife to cut cardboard
  

What you do:

1. Start by building a screen. Find the side of the box that is flat, this will be the front of the screen.

2. Draw a rectangle on the front of the box, leaving a 5 cm border all round.

3. Cut out a piece of tissue paper or wax paper that will fit on the side of the frame. Tape it into the inside of the box.  

4. Cut the remaining sides of the box, leaving the side flaps of the frame so it will stand up on its own. The shape of the box should be like a trifold presentation board.

5. Build puppets using dark paper cut out shapes, figures, and objects. Use tape to attach a stick to the back of each puppet.  

6. Shine the light from lamp or flashlight. Place the puppets between the light and the screen.

7. Be creative. Try adding other objects instead of paper puppets. You can even play a guessing game by placing mystery objects behind the screen and asking someone guess what it is. Try using toys or objects that have spaces such as a colander or wire baskets.

Can you make shadows with your hands? Shadowgraphy is the art of preforming using the images of hand shadows.

Outdoor Exploration

On a sunny day, go outside to explore shadows in the sun.  

What you need:

• Chalk

• Paper tube

• Dark paper

• Tape

• Scissors

What you do:

1. Explore the sun at different times of the day. Using a fixed object like a building, mark with chalk the movement of the sun at different times on pavement. This is like a sundial and a way you can tell time.  

2. Trace your shadow. Using chalk, have someone trace your shadow. Or trace the shadow of different objects. Playing with perspective you can trace an object much bigger than it is.

3.Take your shadow puppets outside. Using the sun as your light, tell a shadow puppet story.  

Make your own bat signal!

1. Design a signal or shape with a white crayon on a piece of dark paper.

2. Cut the paper around the image you want to project.  Cut only the negative space or where you want the light to shine. 

3. Attach the cut-out signal onto a paper tube using tape.

4. Hold the signal up so that the sun (or flashlight) can create the shape of the signal on the ground.

Explanation

All light, even sunlight, travels in waves and if something blocks the path of these waves, a shadow will be formed. The closer an object is to the light source the bigger its shadow will be.  But which objects block light? Objects that are opaque don’t let the light pass though and create shadows.  Objects that are translucent allow some light to pass through, but it can scatter and change the light.

The sun will give objects the longest shadow at the beginning and end of the day, because that is when the sun is lowest in the sky. The shortest shadow cast using sunlight would be in mid-day because that is when the sun is highest in the sky.  At mid-day the sun is directly above us and the light rays are coming almost straight down so the shadows our bodies create are short and squat. This happens because we are blocking the light from hitting directly below us. In the morning and afternoon, the sun is lower in the sky and the light hits us at an angle, which produces long, thin shadows.

Warning: never look directly at the sun. Observe the sun through shadows.

Tips & Tricks:

• Invite your children to explore shadows with different movements especially while outside in the sunlight. Find objects that move like garden pinwheels and explore what movement does to a shadow.

• Storytelling is a way to expand the play. Use characters from other stories or create new ones.

• As an addition to the indoor shadow play, try using different types of light. From LED to incandescent flashlight to a candle.  Each form of light has different wave lengths changing how the shadow will appear.

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Ask Sally Science - Why Can't You Drink Ocean Water?

This week Nathan has a great question - why can't you drink ocean water?

Sally Science answers! Do you have a question to Ask Sally Science? Tag us on your favorite social media platform, or send an email to rholota@sasksciencecentre.com!

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