PlayThinker

Instructions

1. Press Play to send Earth around the Sun while the Moon orbits Earth. The bright beam shows where sunlight is shining.
2. Drag the Speed slider to slow things down for close looks or speed them up for a quick tour.
3. Switch on Slowdown on eclipses to automatically go into slow motion whenever the Moon lines up for something special.
4. Pause at any moment and scrub the Year slider to jump to exactly the day you want.
5. Watch the phase and eclipse badges, plus the top-down map, to see how the same moment looks from different angles.

Learning Notes

This mini solar system makes big space ideas friendly:

• The day/night line shows which part of Earth is facing the Sun right now.
• The Moon always keeps one half lit by the Sun. We see different slices of that lit half, which creates the phases.
• Eclipses happen only when the Sun, Earth, and Moon line up just right. Watch the shadows stretch when they do.

Try to predict the next phase badge before it changes or explain aloud why a lunar eclipse only happens during a full moon.