Now that students are familiar with how objects move in our solar system, we will examine the phases of the moon.  Although the moon appears to change shape in the sky, 5th graders know that this is because of the moon's position in space and the amount of light reflected off of the moon's surface.  

Only half of the moon is visible at one time. As the moon grows larger, we describe the phases as "waxing".  After a full moon and the moon appears to get smaller,  we describe the phases as "waning".