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Salty Sam’s Fun Blog for Children

Post Number 44

The Moon

 

Hello Everyone

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A few weeks ago l was telling you about how the Moon affects the tides. lt pulls the sea up with its gravitational pull and creates the high tide. The Earth has an effect on the Moon as well. lt creates moonquakes and these can last up to an hour! Otherwise the Moon is a pretty quiet place to be.

 

Last week Bill and Bob were learning about the Moon at school and here are some of the interesting facts that they learnt.

 

The Moon is about a quarter of the diameter of the Earth and shines in the night sky when it reflects the rays of the Sun. Sometimes you can see it in the daytime as well, but it is much paler when the sky is filled with the strong rays from the Sun.

 

The Moon is much smaller than the Sun, but looks about the same size because it is so much nearer to us.

 

When you look at the Moon, you can see lots of circles on it like holes in Swiss cheese. These were made by comets, meteorites and asteroids hitting the surface over thousands of millions of years.

 

There is no air or water, wind or weather on the Moon. There is no sound either because there is no air to carry it. The mountains don’t wear down because there is no weather to do this.

 

The Sun heats the surface of the Moon up to about 100°c; hot enough to boil water and twice as hot as the hottest places on Earth. But without sunlight the surface chills to about -150°c which is twice as cold as the coldest places on Earth.

 

The Moon turns on its axis once every 27 days and 8 hours and it goes around the Earth in 27 days and 8 hours. So a Moon day is nearly equal to an Earth month.

 

This means that as it orbits and spins, the same side of the Moon always faces Earth. ln fact, nobody knew what the other side of the moon looked like until it was photographed by Russia Luna 3 Space Probe in 1959.

 

Throughout history, people have looked up at the Moon and wondered at it. lt is important in folklore and ancient stories. Some people even included it in their religious beliefs.

 

There are thirteen Full Moons in a year, and did you know that according to folklore each one has a name? The Wolf Moon, the Hay Moon, the Harvest Moon, etc. are all names that people use. And different people in different parts of the World have different names for them.

 

There is also something called a ‘Blood Moon’. This is a scientific term for when the Earth eclipses the Moon and the Sun’s rays light it up making it appear red.

 

lf you have a telescope, have a look at the Moon one night. lt looks like it has the face of a lady singing. smile1 (2)

 

 

Bye bye everyone – don’t forget to subscribe to my blog!

 

Love and kisses

 

 

Salty Sam

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www.christina-sinclair.com

 

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Bill and Bob’s Joke of the Weekjokejoke

 

Bob: When can astronauts not land on the Moon?

 

Bill: l don’t know. When can astronauts not land on the Moon?

 

Bob: When it is full!

 
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Salty Sam © Christina Sinclair 2015

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of material from this blog without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited.

Links may be used to www.christina-sinclair.com

 
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Picture Gallery

 
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A map of the Moon

Some people say that the Moon is not strictly speaking a moon

but a twin planet to the Earth 

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A meteorite is a chunk of rock or metal 

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Because there is no wind on the Moon, flags have to be propped up 

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The Moon can appear to be closer to Earth in some parts of the world

And sometimes the Moon seems very large when it appears just above the horizon

and then appears to shrink as it climbs into the sky 

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The Moon is sometimes visible during the daytime but is pale because of the strong light of the Sun 

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This piece of rock is from the Moon’s surface

You can see it if you visit the Natural History Museum in London 

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It is a small chip of a 5.5 kilo rock that was brought back by Apollo 16 in 1972 

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Moonlight caught in the clouds 

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A Blood Moon – we saw one on 28th October 2015 

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This looks like a picture of the Moon but it is fact the Moon eclipsing the Sun 

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This total eclipse of the Sun took place on 20th March 2015 and was seen in the northern parts of Europe 

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Only the Sun’s rays were visible

 
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    desk  THE SALTY SAM NEWS DESKlamp

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If you can never remember how many days a month has, and you also can’t remember the rhyme:-

 

Thirty days hath September,

April. June and November,

February has twenty-eight alone,

All the rest have thirty-one;

Excepting leap year, that’s the time,

When February’s days are twenty nine.

 

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Try this method instead:-

 

Make fists and put your hands together with the backs of them facing you.

Count the months across your knuckles and the dips between them (not including your thumbs) – each knuckle is a month with 31 days and each dip has 30 – except February which is especially short; 28 days unless it is a leap year with 29.

This method shows you that July and August both have 31 days (where the sides of your fists come together).

The Earth actually takes 365¼ days to go around the Sun. So we have 365 days in a year and we have an extra day every four years. A year with 366 days is called a leap year.

 

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Bill and Bob have made up another one of their quizzes for you this week. It fits in with the theme of this week’s blog post.

 

This time it is a crossword about the months of the year. They hope you enjoy it.

 

Months of the Year Crossword

 
ACROSS

  1. Contains Midsummer Day
  2. The only month to have 31 days following a month that also has 31 days that is within the same year
  3. Contains New Year’s Day
  4. Contains Halloween
  5. Famous for its showers
  6. Contains Christmas

 

DOWN

  1. Contains Easter when it is early
  2. Often the hottest month of the year
  3. Contains Guy Fawkes Night
  4. The shortest month of the year
  5. The month that has the fewest letters in its name
  6. Usually the start of the school year

 

 44. Months Crossword PDF

 
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Don’t forget that if you would like to see lots of ideas for things to make that I have collected together for you, then check out my Winter Festivities Pinboard at:

 

https://www.pinterest.com/TheSaltySamBlog/winter-festivities/

 

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A little train in Covent Garden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Strand, London 2015

 

 

 

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Quick Quiz

 

Bill, Bob and Henry have been preparing some questions for their team in their class Friday afternoon quiz for homework this week as well, so they have been very busy.

They know the other teams will be making up questions about the Moon too. They have been studying the subject as much as they can so that they will be able to answer any questions that might come their way.

Bill and Bob’s team have to make up questions about words and phrases we use with the word ‘moon’ in them.

Can you answer Bill and Bob’s questions?

What do the following mean?

 

  1. moonbeam
  2. moon face
  3. moonlight flit
  4. moonshine
  5. moon shot
  6. moon struck
  7. New Moon
  8. Full Moon
  9. Waxing Moon
  10. Waning Moon
  11. over the Moon
  12. once in a Blue Moon

 
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BLOW MY FOGHORN!!!

 

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lt’s the Weekend! 
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HOW TO MAKE A LAVENDER BALL CLOWN

 
This is a bit of a fiddly sewing project and maybe not suitable for a sewing newbie.

 

YOU WILL NEED

 

A circle of fabric 18cm/7 inches in diameter

A handful of toy stuffing

A sachet of lavender

A strip of lace 40cm/16 inches long

A small bow

2 small buttons

3cm/1¼ inch foam bobble

1cm/½ inch foam bobble (or size suitable for a nose)

A small piece of felt

A small length of cord

A bead or bobble to top the hat

Sewing thread

Embroidery thread for the eyes

 

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  1. Cut a circle of fabric 18cm in diameter and put a double run of running stitches around 7mm in from the edge. Pull into a bag and stuff with toy stuffing incorporating a sachet of lavender then pull the top tightly together and fasten off your thread.
  2. Sew a running stitch along the top of a strip of lace about 40 cm long and pull into a ruff. Sew this to the top of the fabric ball you have just made and sew a ribbon bow at the front of the neck to decorate.
  3. Decorate the front of the clown with two buttons taking your needle in from the neck. The buttons can be put on the fabric before you pull it into a bag, if you are sure about their positioning.
  4. Sew a foam bobble nose to a foam bobble head of about 3cm in diameter then add eyes using embroidery thread. Take the needle in from the top of the back of the head so that the thread ends will be covered by the hat.
  5. Measure around the clown’s head with a tape measure, then using this measurement cut a semi-circle of paper with the diameter of your measurement.
  6. Cut two triangles off the paper so that you have about 3/8 of a circle. Try it on the clowns head for size allowing for an overlap seam at the back. Trim away more paper if you feel that you need to.
  7. Cut the hat out in felt. Sew the back seam and then sew the hat onto the clown’s head using catch stitch – if the stitches are small they shouldn’t show.
  8. Cut a tiny cord or decorative thread 60cm long. Fold it in half and loop over a knitter’s yarn needle. (Remember you will have to release it from the needle after the cord has been pulled through the clown.)
  9. Pull the cord through the body, head and hat. Knot at the bottom and tie a bow. Thread a bead onto the top and secure with a tiny blob of glue.

TIP

Double lines of gathering stitches make your gathering neater and easier to control.

 
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Please note that the material on this blog is for personal use or for use in classrooms only.

It is a copyright infringement and, therefore, illegal under international law to sell items made with these patterns.

Use of the toys and projects on all of these blogs is at your own risk.

©Christina Sinclair Designs 2015sand

 
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Answers to the News Desk Quiz

 
ACROSS

  1. Contains Midsummer Day – June
  2. The only month to have 31 days following a month that also has 31 days that is within the same year – August
  3. Contains New Year’s Day – January
  4. Contains Halloween – October
  5. Famous for its showers – April
  6. Contains Christmas – December

 

DOWN

  1. Contains Easter when it is early – March
  2. Often the hottest month of the year – July
  3. Contains Guy Fawkes Night – November
  4. The shortest month of the year – February
  5. The month that has the fewest letters in its name – May
  6. Usually the start of the school year – September

 

                             
             

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Quick Quiz Answers

 
 

  1. moonbeam
  2. moon face
  3. moonlight flit
  4. moonshine
  5. moon shot
  6. moon struck
  7. New Moon
  8. Full Moon
  9. Waxing Moon
  10. Waning Moon
  11. over the Moon
  12. once in a Blue Moon

 

  1. a beam of light from the Moon
  2. a face that is round
  3. to run away in the dark – probably to avoid paying money that you owe
  4. foolish talk or illegally-made alcoholic drink
  5. a rocket launched to visit the Moon
  6. slightly mad
  7. a Moonless night/no Moon
  8. the Moon when it is a circle
  9. a Moon getting bigger (from the right)
  10. a Moon getting smaller (going to the left)
  11. very happy
  12. happens very occasionally (a Blue Moon is the second Full Moon in a calendar month and only happens once in two or three years)

 
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The phases of the Moon

 

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For an Embroidery Stitches Chart

Check out Blog Post 3

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  • Devon says:

    I think your blog is great Salty Sam.

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