When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie that's... a full moon!!!

Through this assignment, I learned a lot about the phases of the moon and how observable the waxing and waning of the moon is from day to day. Before completing the assignment, I had the basic understanding of why the moon waxed and waned and what it would look like, but looking for it every night with my own eyes was a completely new discovery for me. I realized that the weather conditions often make it difficult to see the moon, and that these nights were darker than most. This assignment really helped me to understand that teaching science does not just occur in the classroom, but that students should be exploring their environments and asking questions about things that interest them. Observation is one of the most important skills that children can learn and a skill that will help them in all areas of school and life. I would use this assignment in my classroom to reinforce the idea of cycles, or if we are learning about the solar system, or about the moon itself. Instead of the assignment being six weeks long however I may make it shorter such that the students will not be too deterred to complete the assignment.