• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Day and night). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. How long does the Earth take to spin once? (one month / one week / about 24 hours / one year) → about 24 hoursPrompt: It is one day and one night.
2. The Sun rises at 08:30 and sets at 17:30. How many hours of daylight are there? Give your answer in hours as a decimal (e.g. 12.5). → 9 hPrompt: Count the whole hours first, then the extra minutes.
3. Day and night: which statement is NOT true? (It is always daytime somewhere on Earth. / Shadows change length and direction during the day. / Day and night happen because the Earth orbits the Sun. / The Earth rotates once about every 24 hours.) → Day and night happen because the Earth orbits the Sun.Prompt: Rotation and orbit are different movements.

• Ask why we see the Moon change shape over a month.
• Share the objective: The Moon and its phases. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Among the phases of the Moon, starting from new moon, which comes straight after "waxing gibbous"?
• Step 1: new moon → waxing crescent → first quarter → waxing gibbous → full moon → waning gibbous → last quarter → waning crescent
• Step 2: So the answer is: full moon
• Answer: full moon
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Among the phases of the Moon, starting from new moon, which comes straight after "waxing crescent"? (last quarter / first quarter / full moon / waning gibbous) → first quarterPrompt: "Waxing" means the lit part is growing.
2. Why do we always see the same side of the Moon? (The other side is always dark / It does not spin at all / Earth blocks the other side / It spins once in the same time it takes to orbit Earth) → It spins once in the same time it takes to orbit EarthPrompt: The far side is not always dark.

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Why does the Moon seem to change shape during the month? (The Moon really changes shape / Clouds hide part of it / We see different amounts of its sunlit half as it orbits Earth / Earth's shadow covers it) → We see different amounts of its sunlit half as it orbits EarthPrompt: Half of the Moon is always lit by the Sun.
2. Among the phases of the Moon, starting from new moon, which comes straight after "full moon"? (last quarter / waning crescent / waning gibbous / first quarter) → waning gibbousPrompt: "Waxing" means the lit part is growing.

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-5.