Regents Earth Science
MOON AND TIDE PATTERNS
Introduction
You know that the Moon has something to do with ocean tides, those regular changes in water levels you’ve experienced during a visit to the beach. But what exactly are the connections? What causes them? When do tides, moonrise and moonset, and phases of the Moon occur each day? In this multi-part investigation, you will have the chance to learn more about these and other questions. You will also be able to improve your skills in finding and analyzing information available in newspapers and on the Internet.
Part 1 Moon Patterns
1. The US Navy Observatory is the country’s “official timekeepers.” On their Internet site, you can find information about the times and phases of the Moon. Go to: http://aa.usno.navy.mil/AA
2. Select a location and find data showing moonrise, moonset, and phase data for any month. Enter your
data in Chart 1 (on p. 4). Note also the new, first quarter, full, and last quarter phases.
Location: ________________________________ Month/Year__________________________
3. Answer the questions below.
Question 1--What general pattern(s)
do you see in the times from one day to the next?
Question 2--What times of day/night
do each phase occur?
Question 3--Compare your data with
another group who used a different month, and describe similarities and
differences.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dr.
Passow Name______________________________
Regents
Earth Science MOON
AND TIDE PATTERNS, p. 2
Question 4--What causes these
patterns of time of moonrise and phase?
Use a simple drawing to help explain your answer.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dr.
Passow Name______________________________
Regents
Earth Science MOON
AND TIDE PATTERNS, p. 3
Part
2 Tide Patterns--Times of High and Low
Tides
4. The National Ocean Survey (NOS) of the
National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides an
Internet site that gives information about the predicted times and heights of
tides.. The NOS web URL is: www.opsd.nos.noaa.gov/
Use
this site to obtain tide information for the same location (or one as close to
it as possible) that you used for the Moon
in Part 1. Enter these data also
in Chart 1.
5. Answer the following questions:
Question 5--What general patterns do
you see in these data?
Question 6--What relationships do
you notice about lunar and tidal patterns?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dr.
Passow Name______________________________
Regents
Earth Science MOON
AND TIDE PATTERNS, p. 4
Chart 1
Location _________________________
Month____________ Year ________
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____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dr.
Passow Name______________________________
Regents
Earth Science MOON
AND TIDE PATTERNS, p. 5
Part
3 Tide Patterns--Levels of High and Low
Tides
6. Use the data provided to make a “tide curve”
in the graph below by putting a dot representing heights and times given for the first two days only. Connect the data points to
construct a tidal curve.
Chart
2 Location__________________________________
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Date _____________ Date _____________ Date _____________ Date _____________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dr.
Passow Name______________________________
Regents
Earth Science MOON
AND TIDE PATTERNS, p. 6
7. WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE DATA FROM THE WEB SITE, predict the tide
heights and times for the 3rd and 4th
days by putting circles on the chart.
Question 7--What factors did you use
to make your predictions?
AFTER YOU HAVE ANSWERED QUESTION 7, enter the data from the
web site.
Question 8--How well did your
predictions match the data?
9.
Select another
location from those available at the NOS web site (www.opsd.nos.noaa.gov/)
.
Construct its tide curve in Chart 3.
Chart
3. Location:
______________________________________
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Date _____________ Date _____________ Date _____________ Date _____________
Dr.
Passow Name______________________________
Regents
Earth Science MOON
AND TIDE PATTERNS, p. 7
Question 9--Compare the two tide
curves. What might account for their
similarities/differences?
Question 10--What do you consider to
be the three most important things you learned in this activity?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Dr.
Passow Name______________________________
Regents
Earth Science MOON
AND TIDE PATTERNS, p. 8
SELECTED CONNECTIONS WITH NEW YORK STATE AND
NATIONAL STANDARDS
New York State Learning Standards for Mathematics, Science, and Technology
Standard
1. Students will use mathematical
analysis, scientific inquiry, and engineering design, as appropriate, to pose
questions, seek answers, and develop solutions.
The central purpose of scientific
inquiry is to develop explanations of natural phenomena in a continuing,
creative process.
The observations made while testing
proposed explanations, when analyzed using conventional and invented methods,
provide new insights into phenomena.
Standard
2. Students will access, generate,
process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies.
Information technology is used to
retrieve, process, and communicate information and as a tool to enhance
learning.
Standard
3. Students will understand mathematics
and become mathematically confident by communicating and reasoning
mathematically, by applying mathematics n real-world settings and by solving
problems through the integrated study of number systems, geometry, algebra,
data analysis, probability, and trigonometry.
Students
use measurement in both metric and English measure to provide a major link
between the abstractions of mathematics and the real world in order to describe
and compare objects and data.
Students
use ideas of uncertainty to illustrate that mathematics involves more than
exactness when dealing with everyday situations.
Standard
4. Students will understand and apply
scientific concepts, principles, and theories pertaining to the physical
setting and living environment and recognize the historical development of
ideas in science.
The
Earth and celestial phenomena can be described by principles of relative motion
and perspective.
Energy
and matter interact through forces that result in changes in motion.
Standard
6. Students will understand the
relationships and common themes that connect mathematics, science, and technology
and apply the themes to these and other areas of learning.
Models
are simplified representations of objects, structures, and systems used in
analysis, explanation, interpretation, or design.
The grouping
of magnitudes of size, time, frequency, and pressures or other units of
measurement into a series of relative order provides a useful way to deal with
the immense range and the changes in scale that affect behavior and design of
systems.
Identifying
patterns of change is necessary for making predictions about future behavior
and conditions.
Standard
7. Students will apply the knowledge and
thinking skills of mathematics, science, and technology to address real-life
problems and make informed decisions.
The knowledge and skills of
mathematics, science, and technology are used together to make informed
decisions and solve problems, especially those relating to issues of
science/technology/society, consumer decision making, design, and inquiry into
phenomena.
National Science
Education Standards
Science
Teaching Standards
Teachers
of science plan an inquiry-based science program for their students.
Teachers
of science guide and facilitate learning.
Teachers
of science engage in ongoing assessment of their teaching and of student
learning.
Teachers
of science design and manage learning environments that provide students with
the time, space, and resources needed for learning science.
Teachers
of science develop communities of science learners that reflect the
intellectual rigor of scientific inquiry and the attitudes and social values
conducive to science learning.
Science
Content Standards
Objects
in the sky have patterns of movement. … The observable shape of the Moon
changes from day to day in a cycle that lasts about a month.
Most
objects in the solar system are in regular and predictable motion. These motions explain such phenomena as …
phases of the Moon….
Gravity
is the force that keeps planets in orbit around the Sun and governs the rest of
the motion in the solar system. Gravity
alone holds us to Earth’s surface, and explains ocean tides.