- [Mister C] What time is it?

- [All] It's science time.

♪ It's science, science, science time ♪ ♪ Let's all stop and just unwind ♪ ♪ One, two, three, four here we go ♪ ♪ Learn so much, your brain explodes ♪ ♪ Lessons so cool, so fresh ♪ ♪ It's so great, you'll lose your breath ♪ ♪ Learning facts and real cool stuff ♪ ♪ Scream for more, can't get enough ♪ ♪ It's, it's science time ♪ ♪ It's fun, you best believe it ♪ ♪ Explore and learn new things ♪ ♪ Come and join me please ♪ - I'm Mister C, and these super smart group is my science crew.

Lyla is our notebook navigator.

Alfred is our experiment expert.

Rylee is our dynamite demonstrator.

And London is our research wrangler.

Working with my team is the best and makes learning so much fun.

Actually, you should join us.

Today, we're talking about the moon.

What time is it?

- [All] It's science time.

- Welcome back to DIY Science Time.

My name is Mister C, and I'm so glad that you are here to be a part of my science crew today.

(whip cracks) We're talking about the moon.

(wolf howling) That's right, the moon.

And we're going to unlock all the mysteries of the moon today.

And in order to get started, you are going to need a few materials.

Alfred, what do we need today?

- Let's go to the moon.

Well, maybe we can't actually make it to the moon today, but we've got some fun experiments that are definitely out of this world.

You'll need (paper plate chimes) a paper plate, (string chimes) string, (pencil chimes) a pencil, (washer chimes) a washer or something with some mass, (protractor chimes) a protractor, (ruler chimes) a ruler, (scissors chimes) scissors, and last but most certainly not least, your lovely lunar science notebook.

- A science notebook is a tool that every scientist should have, and it gives us a place to record all of our learning.

Taking good notes and being organized allows us to be better scientists.

A science notebook allows us to go back and review all the data and information we've gathered during our experiments.

Plus, it allows us to share results with other scientists who might be interested in learning more about what we've discovered.

Whenever you see the notebook pop up on the screen, (notebook chimes) like this, it's a reminder that this is a good place for us to jot down new information.

You can see, I've already added a title and a list of materials for today's activity.

Our crew is still going to have lots of information to collect and organize as we go through the experiment, so keep your notebook handy.

Most importantly, the more you use the science notebook, the better you'll get at taking notes and recording data.

If you don't have a science notebook yet, download a copy of Mister C's science notebook from the website.

- Because we're talking about the moon, in addition to having our science notebook today, we're actually going to build a moon journal.

That's right.

I'm going to build one right now and you can build one also.

But if you like, you can hop online and download our premade template, so that you don't have to build it.

But half the fun is building it sometimes, right?

(camera shutter whirs) So, let's get started.

So, what I've done is I've created a grid, so that I have a day for every day of the week, and then I have enough blocks for the entire month.

So, it could be a month with 28 days, 30 days or 31 days.

And now, create a circle on each of the squares.

(soft upbeat music) There we have it.

We have all of our days and we have all of our circles or moons.

Now, here's the thing, each one of these is going to get filled in.

The goal is to look at the moon each and every day of the month.

You're gonna try to find it.

It doesn't matter what time of day it is, just try to find the moon in the sky.

And most importantly, draw what you see.

For example, I know that right now, in the sky where I live, we have a first quarter Moon.

This left side is completely dark.

And I say it's dark because I don't see it.

The part that's white on my page, that's the part that I'm seeing in the sky.

So, it looks approximately like this.

This is your job.

This is your task.

Draw what you see, date it and put the time when you make your observation.

And if you want, you can use a really cool tool to measure the altitude of the moon in the sky.

Because not only does the moon change shape, it changes its position in the sky or how far above the horizon it actually is.

So, we're gonna build a really cool tool to measure the distance from the horizon to the moon.

We're building a tool that measures altitude now.

And it's really simple.

You're going to take paper plate and you're gonna cut the circle out of the paper plate.

We're gonna fold that in half.

So, we're basically building our own little paper protractor.

We're actually gonna cut this in half.

I'm going to take a line.

I'm gonna take a line right across here.

So, I'm gonna mark that, so I know that I can have starting point here, just like that.

And then I'm going to mark where it says 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, and then 10 is right there underneath that.

And I'm gonna do now the other direction too, so this would be the same.

I'm gonna mark all these increments.

And then I have to mark where the 10 would've been right there.

This is gonna be zero degrees.

This will be 10 degrees.

This will be 20 degrees, 30 degrees, 40 degrees, 50 degrees, 60 degrees, 70 degrees, 80 degrees, and then this line is 90.

I'm gonna poke a hole right through this little spot.

(soft upbeat music) And what we're going to do now is we're going to take a piece of string (soft upbeat music continues) and it's gonna go into that.

Now, it doesn't have to be too long.

(duck quacks) It doesn't have to be too long.

(scissors clacks) But you're gonna tie a weight to one end.

(soft upbeat music) And then we're going to put this through the hole.

(soft upbeat music continues) And then we're gonna just tie a knot on the backside of it, so it doesn't come back out.

(soft upbeat music continues) All right, so now we have our tool.

It's almost finished.

You can take your ruler and you can tape it to the back.

So, there you have it.

This tool is going to allow you to actually measure the angle of the moon in the sky.

It's gonna take horizon, which is flat, as far as we can see out straight.

And then what you're going to do is as you see the moon, let's say it's over there, boop, (bullet whizzes) there's the moon in the sky.

And once this settles down, we can say it's at about 30 degrees.

So, the moon is 30 degrees in the sky.

And this is a great reference point because now, we can communicate to see if the moon is at a different angle where you live or where I live.

Have fun with this.

Take your angle measurements of where the moon is in the sky and make sure you fill in this moon journal to see how the shape or what the moon looks like and how it's changing and make sure you get all your observations in.

Our planet, Earth is the third planet from the sun.

Earth is about 93 million miles away from the sun and orbits the sun once every 365.25 days.

Earth also has one satellite orbiting it.

We call the satellite, our Moon.

The moon, just like the earth, is made of rock and metal.

The Moon orbits Earth once every 28 to 29 days.

In fact, the light from the sun illuminates the moon.

That means the light from the sun bounces off of the moon and bounces to our eyes.

And this is what allows us to see the moon in the sky.

The combination of the moon's orbit and being illuminated allows the moon to have predictable phases and a predictable pattern in the sky.

- Did you know that Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon?

It happened on July 20th, 1969.

When Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon, he famously stated, - [Neil] That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.

(mic echos) (soft quirky music) (text pops) Wow.

I have done an entire month worth of moon journals.

Check this out.

Day one is the one we did together.

That was my first quarter Moon.

And then I noticed that the moon is getting fuller, and we call it a waxing gibbous, and we had our full Moon.

And then I started to notice that I was seeing less of the moon.

And then we got to a third quarter, which was like the opposite of the first quarter.

And then what's interesting from the third quarter, the lit up part of the moon, or the part I was seeing was even less.

It was like a little sliver.

And that sliver, we call it waning crescent.

And it had a couple of days of cloudy coverage, I couldn't see anything.

But then I looked up to see why I couldn't find the moon, on the 21st and the 22nd, and that's because it's a new Moon.

And that's because of its position in space.

From a new Moon, it starts going to a waxing crescent and it starts getting a bigger sliver, bigger sliver and eventually, it cycles back to this first quarter.

This tool here is an orrery.

I hope I said that right.

Orrery.

But it has the sun, it has the earth and it has the moon.

Now, you might notice that the sun and the earth are really close together.

Well, in real life, the sun is about 93 million miles from the earth.

And the moon is about 248,000 miles from the earth.

So, this is not to scale, all right?

But what we do have here is the ability to show what's happening with the moon.

The moon is actually orbiting the earth once, oops, gotta keep that shadow there, it's orbiting the earth once every 28 days.

(paper squeaking) So, that revolution around the earth takes about 28 days.

Now, during that time, the earth is also rotating on its axis once every 24 hours.

Now, this is flat, (bell chimes) and here we have a 3D model.

You can build one of these also.

The earth is at its tilt, 23.5 degrees.

And then I have the moon here.

And this is the same setup that we saw early with the orrery because this is where we have a first quarter Moon.

And we can actually take a snapshot of that and see the moon from Earth's perspective, and we can see a quarter of the moon is lit up.

Now, the moon is orbiting the earth counterclockwise just like this once every 28 days.

And you can see really vividly that half the moon stays dark during that orbit.

And when the moon comes here to this side, that's when we have a full Moon.

From Earth, when it's nighttime, so I have my little person here who's rotating, (imitates robot whirring) during nighttime, when that person looks up in the sky, at about midnight, that moon is gonna be at its highest point and the person's going to see an entire full Moon.

And as it starts orbiting, or as it continues to orbit, the phase changes.

Here is our waning gibbous.

When it comes to here, it's the third quarter.

When it comes to here, our waning crescent.

And when it gets to this point, we have our new Moon.

Because from this point, from this angle, from the earth, looking up into the sky, you don't see any of the illuminated part of the moon.

That's because this entire site is dark.

And we can take snapshots and show you that very easily for each of the phases.

There's our waxing crescent.

And we're back to our first quarter.

- Create your very own moon phase toy with these simple steps.

Take a clear cup and tape a white circle into the cup.

Now, cut a piece of black construction paper and place it into the cup.

You should be able to see the white circle from the outside.

Secure it with tape.

Place this cup into another clear cup.

We will be tracing the white circle eight times on the outside of the second cup.

Carefully shade in the circle so that you can create the eight phases of the moon.

(soft quirky music) (soft quirky music continues) Now, rotate your outer cup to see each phase of the moon.

Waxing crescent.

First quarter.

Waxing gibbous.

Full Moon.

Waning gibbous.

Third quarter.

Waning crescent.

New Moon.

Keep this tool handy to identify the moon phases you see in the sky.

- What do astronauts do when they accidentally bump into each other?

They apologize.

Sorry, I know some of the jokes are out of this world.

(chuckles) It's pretty amazing that we can see the moon's phases change throughout the month as it orbits around the earth.

I added a note that, just like the sun, the moon always rises in the East and sets in the West because the earth is rotating counterclockwise on its axis.

I also added the notes about Neil Armstrong's moonwalk in 1969.

That was one giant leap.

- If we look at the moon up close, we can see dark spots called lunar maria.

The word maria means seas and Latin.

Early astronomers thought the big dark spots on the moon were seas of water.

Scientists today know that these dark areas on the surface of the moon were not made of water.

The dark spots were actually formed by ancient volcanic eruptions.

- The earth is 384,400 kilometers from the moon.

That's like driving around the earth nearly eight times.

Road trip.

(horn honks) - Did you notice that during your observations of the moon, there were different shades of gray and maybe you even saw some things that looked like rays or like lines on the moon?

Well, really, these are called rays.

And those rays are formed from asteroids and rocks that hit the moon at one point.

And when they hit the moon, they created a crater and that impact (imitates explosion) created these rays that we can see far, far away here on Earth.

Well, we're gonna do some experimentations today where we're going to try to do the same thing.

We're gonna take some flour and some cocoa, put it down, and then we're going to drop some (ball bearings clanking) steel ball bearings (marbles clanking) or marbles onto our moon surface to see what kind of rays and formations we can create.

First, we add some flour.

Then we're gonna take some cocoa and put it on top so that we hide all of the flour.

Are you ready?

(laughs) It can get a little messy, so do this somewhere where it's okay to make a mess.

I'm gonna go up about 20 inches or so.

I'm gonna drop it straight down.

So, it's gonna be a vertical impact right into the surface of the moon.

Are you ready?

In three, two, one.

(table thuds) Oh, that's so cool.

(table thuds) I don't know if I wanna take it out 'cause I don't wanna mess up the rays.

Oh, could you see it?

(table thuds) It went (imitates explosion).

Oh, I wonder what'll happen if I kind of like throw it sideways.

So, if it's not a direct impact.

In three, two, one.

(table thuds) Oh.

(laughs) It jumped.

(chuckles) All right, so it splattered.

Look at the crater it created.

It hit and made another creator.

Let's try it with a marble.

Let's see if it has the same sort of impact.

Three, two, one.

(table thuds) Oh.

It's so down in there.

When I put my hands in, I kind of mess it up, but you can see that it has a ray here and one there.

Let's try another steel ball bearing.

Ah, where should we try it, up here?

Let's try it right here.

In three, really high, I'm going really high.

Three, two, one.

(table thuds) Whoa.

(table thuds) Whoa.

It totally splattered.

Look at the table.

I think the table is more telling than our actual pan.

You can see the rays shooting off here from our moon pan to the table.

Oh, that is so cool.

I want you to try an experiment with different angles.

You know, how does it impact when it comes from a 45 degree angle, at 90 degree angle?

Does the force of the steel ball bearing or the marble change the rays?

I think we should try this one more time.

So, I'm gonna take this off and I have another pan ready to go.

(paper rustling) (bell chimes) (soft quirky music) Is this what they call a MoonPie?

(soft quirky music continues) Here we go.

I'm gonna drop it from about this height.

In three, two, one.

(table thuds) (chuckles) It didn't do much.

It's so packed.

(table thuds) But actually, that's interesting.

I'm gonna toss at this direction and see what happens.

In three, two, one.

(table thuds) (soft quirky music) Meteor shower.

(imitates explosion) (ball bearing clanking) (table thuds) (Mister C imitates explosion) (ball bearing clanking) (Mister C imitates meteor shower whizzing) Oh, that one did it really well.

So, it might be too packed.

I may have packed it too much, but that's half the fun.

(hands squeaking) That's half the fun.

You can build one of these, try packing it tighter, packing it not so tight, and see what kind of craters and rays you get on your (ball bearing clanking) moon surface.

Have some fun.

Give it a try.

Make a little bit of a mess.

But most importantly, record your data in your notebook so that you can come back and explore more and learn about the rays on the moon.

As you can see, we're not in our regular classroom.

Instead, we have boarded the space shuttle moon for you.

So, when you're ready, buckle up and we'll be ready for take off.

- [Announcer] Six, five, four, three, two, one, zero.

(space shuttle roaring) (quirky music starts) ♪ The moon, the moon, Earth's satellite ♪ ♪ The moon, the moon can be seen, day or night ♪ ♪ The moon, the moon, such a special thing ♪ ♪ The moon, the moon, let's all sing ♪ ♪ We see the moon hanging in our sky ♪ ♪ It can be seen with our eyes ♪ ♪ Sometimes the moon has a different shape ♪ ♪ It all depends on its phase ♪ ♪ We'll learn all about the moon ♪ ♪ You'll know all the eight phases soon ♪ ♪ The moon is such a special thing ♪ ♪ Around our Earth, it's orbiting ♪ ♪ The moon, the moon, Earth's satellite ♪ ♪ The moon, the moon can be seen, day or night ♪ ♪ The moon, the moon, such a special thing ♪ ♪ The moon, the moon, let's all sing ♪ ♪ It orbits Earth every 28 days ♪ ♪ And travels in counterclockwise way ♪ ♪ And it revolts on its axis ♪ ♪ The side we see never, ever changes ♪ ♪ We put a man on the moon ♪ ♪ He wasn't too sure what to do ♪ ♪ Finally, he started jumping around ♪ ♪ He realized less gravity was pulling him down ♪ ♪ The moon, the moon, Earth's satellite ♪ ♪ The moon, the moon can be see, day or night ♪ ♪ The moon, the moon, such a special thing ♪ ♪ The moon, the moon, let's all sing ♪ ♪ A solar eclipse is a really cool thing ♪ ♪ The moon blocks the sun's rays temporarily ♪ ♪ The moon shadow is then cast on the earth ♪ ♪ Because this occurs during a new Moon phase ♪ ♪ The lunar eclipse is a little different ♪ ♪ The moon is in the shadow of the earth ♪ ♪ The lunar eclipse only occurs ♪ ♪ During a full Moon ♪ ♪ Of this, you can be sure ♪ ♪ The moon, the moon, Earth's satellite ♪ ♪ The moon, the moon can be seen, day or night ♪ ♪ The moon, the moon, such a special thing ♪ ♪ The moon, the moon, let's all sing ♪ ♪ The moon crosses the earth two half tides ♪ ♪ And pulls the water from side to side ♪ ♪ There are two different kinds of these things ♪ ♪ One's called a neap and the other is spring ♪ ♪ We see the moon rise in the East ♪ ♪ And then it sets back in the West ♪ ♪ We see the moon because of the sun's rays ♪ ♪ Which reflected to the eyes of our head ♪ ♪ The moon, the moon, Earth's satellite ♪ ♪ The moon, the moon can be seen, day or night ♪ ♪ The moon, the moon, such a special thing ♪ ♪ The moon, the moon, let's all sing ♪ ♪ A new Moon and a waxing crescent ♪ ♪ First quarter, sure comes next ♪ ♪ A waxing gibbous and full Moon ♪ ♪ Hit the tool twice a month ♪ ♪ We call it Blue ♪ ♪ A waning gibbous and third quarter ♪ ♪ Don't worry kids, they're so easy to learn ♪ ♪ Finally, we have a waning crescent ♪ ♪ Now you know all of your moon phases ♪ (space shuttle whirring) - Interested in making some really amazing moon sand?

Mix together eight cups of flour with one cup of baby oil.

(soft upbeat music) This moon sand is able to compress and hold its shape fairly well.

(soft upbeat music continues) When you're finished playing, place it into a container with a lid, so it'll be ready for you on your next lunar adventure.

- The gravitational pull on the moon is much less than the gravitational pull of the earth.

It's actually about 1/6 of that of Earth.

This means if you weigh 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh about 16 pounds on the moon.

Imagine how high you could jump.

♪ The moon, the moon, Earth's satellite ♪ What a fun song.

Our notebook is full with great notes from everything we learned today.

I already started looking for dates for the next solar and lunar eclipses.

I would really like to see something like that for myself.

I also wrote down the recipe for moon sand and all those cool facts we learned today.

The moon have volcanoes?

Could they still erupt?

I have so much more research to do.

I think Mister C should add some of these surprising lunar facts to his moon song.

Wait, have you ever considered writing your own lyrics and making a song?

Write your rhymes, sing them and share them with us using the #DIYScienceTime.

- What an amazing day learning about the moon.

That's right, the moon.

We made moon sand, we had our moon journal.

We talked about the moon and its orbit around the earth when we use our 3D model behind me.

It's so much fun.

We also had lots of information that we need to make sure we get into our notebook.

So, if you don't have it yet, hop online and download this, so you have your own notebook to keep track of all the information from your experiments.

And speaking of experiments, this one here, I wanna try it one more time because I think I packed the other one in too much.

But before I do that, I wanna say, keep learning, keep having fun, keep exploring.

And remember, science is wherever you are.

Take care, bye.

All right, let's try this again.

(table thuds) (imitates explosion) Oh, (chuckles) yeah, that's awesome.

(imitates explosion) ♪ It's science time ♪ Look at all those rays.

Position in the sky in what at, (mouth squeaks) See ya.

(table thudding) (ball bearing clanking) (Mister C laughing) ♪ It's science time ♪ Meet Pearl, everybody.

This is Pearl.

She's an astronaut squirrel.

♪ It's science time ♪ She is our ferret, she is four years old and she loves to do science with me, but she just wants to get her pause into everything.

♪ It's so much fun.

♪ ♪ Learning fun for everyone ♪ Boy, today, I feel like a meteor.

We had a smashing good time.

♪ Yes, you best believe ♪ The moon.